Memories of Miley
by CelticX
Summary: She'd been stupid. They'd been getting along so well recently that she'd actually allowed herself to dream that there was a possibility for the two of them. That dream was now a small pile of ashes slowly being reduced by the breeze of reality. Liley.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This will be my second foray into the HM/Liley world. I hope you enjoy ;-)

Disclaimer: I don't own HM or any of its characters. All such rights belong to Disney, etc. I just like playing with them.

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_Tuesday, April 7, 2009_

Crowley Corners, Tennessee is a sleepy little hamlet of farms and ranches with a total resident population of slightly less than a thousand souls. It has a main street that sports all of two stoplights along with the usual fare of small stores, boutiques, shops, cafes and restaurants. Located about halfway between Nashville and Jackson, just south of where I-40 crosses the Tennessee River and twenty miles northeast of Lexington (the location of the nearest Walmart and shopping mall), it's a picturesque little town that could easily fit the definition of "Small Town, USA." It's one of those friendly towns where everyone pretty much knows everyone else by name and where nearly half the population turns out for the local high school football games.

The Girls' Softball team doesn't get anywhere near the same kind of turnout, but even they can usually count on somewhere between fifty and seventy-five rowdy spectators filling the metal bleachers at their home games. For star pitcher Lilly Truscott, a junior, when she was in her zone all the noise from the stands and the dugout faded away until it was just her, the batter, and the pocket of the catcher's mitt.

Lilly blew out a short breath of air, tossed her head to make sure her blonde ponytail was out of her way and focused her dark green eyes on that small, circular leather space just over forty-five feet away. She shook off her catcher's two fingers signal for a curve ball and then nodded her chin slightly when she got the angled, one finger signal. She wanted to end this now in a decisive manner. With a roundhouse swing of her arm and a loud grunt, she let fly the ball.

_Pop!_

"Steeriike threeeee," the blue-clad ump yelled as he called the last batter of the top of the seventh inning out as she swung at and missed Lilly's fifty-five mile per hour low-and-away fastball. You'd have thought that the Crowley High School team had just won the World Series with all the pandemonium that erupted from the stands rather than having simply beaten their perennial Perry County rivals, the Hazelton Hawks, in a tight 5-4 match. Lilly's teammates piled out of the dugout or ran in from the field to surround her, giving her huge pats on the back and hugs. She was grinning from ear to ear at their exuberance, but her eyes tracked back to the bleachers to try to find the one person out of all of them that meant the most to her.

Miley Stewart, also a junior and the school's head cheerleader, was jumping up and down behind the first baseline fence screaming her head off and flailing her pom-poms around while her short pleated skirt flapped around her hips showing off the light blue spankies she wore underneath. Lilly thought their eyes might have met for a split second, but it was too quick and there was too much going on around her to tell for sure. Not that it really mattered. Lilly watched sadly as Miley turned around and jumped into the arms of her star quarterback boyfriend and, as far as Lilly was concerned, total jerkoff, Jake Ryan. She turned away from the scene not wanting to watch the kiss that she knew the two would share. Her best friend and catcher, Joannie Palumbo, saw where her gaze went and, when she looked back, gave her a commiserating glance and a shrug of her shoulders.

Joannie was one of only two people that were aware of the fact that her best friend, the only avowed lesbian in Crowley High School, Lillian Truscott, was nursing an unrequited love for one Miley Ray Stewart, the most popular girl in school.

Miley, with her long, wavy brown hair and sparkling blue eyes, was not only head cheerleader, but had been homecoming queen for each of the last three years and had been prom queen last year when she went to the dance with then junior Jake Ryan. She was also the captain of the Equestrian team, the best singer in the school chorus, made decent if not great grades, and was the daughter of the most famous person to come out of Perry County, singer-songwriter Robby Ray Stewart. As far as anyone knew, her only major fault was her complete inability to play sports which actually only endeared her to everyone when she habitually messed up in gym class.

Conversely, about the only claim to fame that Lilly had was her athletic ability and her prowess on the pitcher's mound. Other than Joannie, she had very few people she could truly call her friends, her grades were only so-so, and due to her coming out in the eighth grade was pretty much a loner that was regularly teased and bullied by some of the other students. And the ringleader of those bullies was Miley's boyfriend, Jake.

So far none of the bullying had been physical, only verbal or stupid pranks. Lilly attributed this to the fact that she was fairly well muscled since she regularly worked out on the school's weight systems as well as those at the local VFW and could probably take out just about anyone in school that wanted to try to have a go at her. Hefting and hauling around fifty pound bags of feed, seed, and manure at her job at Southern States Cooperative didn't hurt either. That, and the fact that she always carried a baseball around with her. Any boy that tried anything would soon find himself with a fifty-five mile per hour fastball to the groin. If they wanted to be able to have kids anytime in their lives they knew to leave Lilly well enough alone.

"Everyone's heading to DQ to celebrate," Joannie told her as the two of them walked back to the dugout to gather their gear. "You are coming, right?" she told the blonde with a face that would brook no answer other than "yes."

"Yeah, sure," Lilly sighed and earning herself a grin from her friend, "but I got to get over to my job right after that. Ed warned me that we got a truckload of grain and oats coming in later this afternoon and he's going to need a hand unloading."

"Fine, fine," Joannie laughed, pulling Lilly's ball cap down over her eyes only to have the blonde mock growl at her, "at least stay long enough for a burger and shake, my treat."

"Your treat!" Lilly gaped at her with overly exaggerated shock as she pushed her ball cap back up on her head. "Did you win the lottery or something? I'm pretty sure you haven't paid for a meal at the DQ ever since your boy toy Todd started working there."

"What can I say, he likes to indulge me," Joannie smirked.

"More like he's trying to buy his way into your pants," Lilly laughed, "one chili cheese fry at a time."

"Hey! It'll take at least a large Blizzard to get into my honey box," the dark blonde catcher exclaimed.

"Mmm, I wouldn't mind a taste of that sweet nectar," Lilly leered at her friend. As expected, Joannie blushed from her neck to her hairline.

"H-hey," she stammered, slapping Lilly on the arm, "none of that now."

"Oh, come on, baby," Lilly smirked, rolling her tongue and licking her lips suggestively, "you know you've always wondered what it would be like."

"L-Lilly!" Joannie gulped as her face got even redder, mostly because she couldn't dispute her best friend's claim. There had been many a night that she'd pleasured herself to just that image, not that she'd ever admit it. "You promised not to tease me."

"Hmm, did I?" the green eyed girl smiled up at her friend from where she'd knelt down to finish tying her cross-trainers. Her eyes strayed from her friend's flushed face, slowly down past her well-developed bosom, to the V at the apex of her thighs covered only by a tight pair of softball pants and sliders. She licked her lips again, more than amused to hear Joannie stammering above her while her hips unconsciously pushed out a bit closer to her.

"B-b-b-be good or…or I'll tell Miley," Joannie squeaked, using her last resort argument to get her best friend to stop teasing her. She knew as soon as the words left her lips that it had been the wrong thing to say. Lilly's head dropped to stare at her shoes and her shoulders slumped in dejection. "S-sorry," she started to say, but Lilly shook her head.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I did promise not to tease you. It's just…I am so fucking jealous of you and Todd. You two are so great together. He loves you so much it hurts to watch. I've…I've never known someone like that. The way he looks at you…no one's ever going to look at me that way, not if I stay in this podunk village." She finished tying her shoes and moved to sit on the bench to put her cleats in her bag.

"That's not true!" Joannie yelped, sitting down and putting an arm around her distraught friend. "You'll find someone Lilly. I know you will."

"Yeah," Lilly chuckled sadly. "Like there are so many lesbians in town for me to choose from. Maybe Old Widow Godwin is looking for someone to replace her dearly departed husband and is willing to try out the town dyke."

"DO NOT use that term," Joannie spat. "You know how I hate it!"

Lilly laughed lowly. "I hear it every single day. I've kind of gotten used to hearing it."

"Well you shouldn't," her friend huffed with indignation. "And I firmly believe that you'll find someone who will love you, and you won't have to go all the way to Nashville to find them."

"From your lips," Lilly said with a small smile that didn't quite reach her green eyes, knowing that it was a false hope in Crowley Corners.

"So, let's go get those chili cheese fries, a burger and a shake," Joannie grinned widely, giving Lilly a big hug in hopes of raising her spirits. "The team is waiting for us." She knew better than to say anything about Miley maybe being there as well. The pretty brown haired girl might be required to come and cheer for the team, but she wasn't required to hang around with them afterwards. Even if she did she'd be sure to bring Jerkoff Jake with her. That's the last thing Lilly needed today.

"All right," the green-eyed pitcher said, standing and putting on her best happy mask, "but you're going to actually have to pay for my burger and shake," she pointed a finger at her friend. "I don't want to be beholden to Todd or make him pay for my food out of his salary. He's allowed to do that for his girlfriend, but not me. Otherwise I'm paying for my own."

"Yes ma'am," Joannie saluted her stiffly. That at least brought a bit of a real grin to Lilly's lips as the two headed toward the gravel parking lot and Lilly's old pickup.

-oo-

"Hey Lilly. Got a delivery for you to make," Ed Weaver, the manager of the Southern States called out to her as she finished stacking the last of the fifty pound bags of horse feed onto wooden pallets and covered them with a clear plastic tarp. Lilly glanced at her watch to see that it was almost seven P.M. She'd been at it for nearly four hours, first quickly unloading the semi that had delivered the feed so the driver could head off to his next destination, then restacking the bags so that it would be easier for customers to get to and so that there would be less chance for spillage. She wiped the back of her filthy glove across her forehead before she called back to him.

"I'm just about done with my shift, Ed," she yelled back. "Can't Billy do it?"

"He had to head home early," Ed replied as he stepped out the wide back door of the co-op. "His ma called to remind him he had choir practice tonight."

"Oh," Lilly sighed. She used to be in a choir herself until eighth grade. That was when they'd made it clear to her at the small church she'd attended that she would no longer be welcome within that particular house of worship. It seemed that the priest was perfectly willing to allow both the town drunk and the town slut past those hallowed doors so that they could receive absolution, redemption, and salvation, but he drew the line at the town lesbian. "All right, but I got to get home right after that. And you'll be paying for my time until I finish unloading," she told him while poking a gloved finger in his chest.

Ed chuckled. "Of course."

"So…what and where?" Lilly asked as she glanced around the yard wondering what her old pickup would have to haul.

"Twenty bags of this horse feed you've just finished stacking so nicely," he smirked at her and then laughed as she rolled her eyes, "and you'll be delivering it to the Stewart place."

Lilly's eyes narrowed. "Which one? Mamaw's?" she prayed, but there was no such luck for her today.

"Robby Ray's place," the forty-five year old balding manager grinned. He watched Lilly almost literally deflate. He'd seen her eyeing young Miley every time she came to the store so it came as no surprise to him when she seemed less than enthusiastic over the delivery. He knew better than to say anything about it though. "Sorry Lilly," he said with a bit more compassion. "I'd do it myself, but," he patted his softening belly, "too much of Tanya's good cooking and not enough working out has kind of put me out of the delivery business. I'd get a hernia after the second or third bag."

"I told you you needed to cut back on how much of her country fried steak and sausage gravy you ate," the blonde chuckled. "You used to be solid muscle," she poked him in the belly, "now you're more marshmallow."

"I know, I know," he complained. "What can I say, Tanya likes her man with a bit of meat on his bones."

"Meat?" Lilly laughed wide-eyed.

"Don't you dare say what you're thinkin' young lady," he admonished her with a shaking finger but with a sparkle of mirth in his eyes. "Just get your truck loaded and get on up to Robby's place. I'll pay you time-and-a-half for it."

"Yes sir!" Lilly grinned widely. She could surely use the money. Her 4X4 pickup needed a new set of off-road tires after the harsh winter they'd just gone through. Including drive time and unloading she could count on at least a full hour's worth of overtime pay.

Despite what he'd claimed, Ed helped her load the back of her truck with twenty bags of feed before she hopped in the cab and headed on down the road to the Stewart place, the throaty growl of her hemi filling the early evening twilight.

"Damn that Billy," she muttered angrily under her breath. "Why tonight of all nights? Why couldn't he have made this run instead of me? The money's nice, but," she spit a sunflower seed out the window in disgust at her situation.

It was nearly a quarter of eight by the time she pulled up at the illuminated, ornamental wrought iron gate to the Stewart estate. The gates were closed but Ed had told her that Robby was expecting the delivery so she pressed the button on the intercom mounted on a short pole next to the drive. Her driver's door window was taller than the intercom so she'd had to climb out of the truck to call up to the main house.

"Yes?" came a feminine voice from the speaker. Lilly knew that Miley's mother, Susan Stewart, had passed away back when they were both ten years old and she didn't think they had a maid, so that voice could only belong to one person. She tried to get her suddenly dry mouth to work properly without much success.

"Uh, um, I…I have a delivery…of feed…um…from Southern States," she stuttered, nervously.

"Oh, I'll tell Daddy," came the bright reply. "I'll open the gate. Just drive up the road 'til ya come ta the main house. You can't miss it."

"Uh, okay," the blonde teen replied but the static from the intercom had already cut off. The gates started to move so Lilly jumped back in her truck and headed up the long drive. The road wove gently through a small copse of woods which then opened up to wide fields on both sides fenced with three-board fencing. Horses were in the pasture to her right while the one on the left had been allowed to go a bit wild until the horses were moved over to it. One thing was for certain, Miley hadn't been exaggerating when she said that you couldn't miss the main house. It was huge! Essentially a three-story mansion of red brick with white columns holding up a drive-through portico over the front door.

"Singing and song-writing must pay well," Lilly observed with a whistle. She pulled her truck up outside the overhang of the portico not wanting to get her dirty truck anywhere near the pristine house. Before she had a chance to cut the engine off Miley was coming out the front door and heading her way with a bouncy step.

"Don't drool, Lillian," the blonde commanded herself as she took in the sight of the pony-tailed girl she'd been dreaming of for over five years. Despite the chill of the early April evening Miley was dressed in a pair of short cutoff jeans and a tight white t-shirt that barely covered her belly button. To complete the ensemble she wore a pair of brown, hand-stitched cowboy boots that surprisingly looked as if they had seen a lot of wear and tear. The brown haired girl slowed as she came up to the truck, her steps faltering a bit as she saw who was sitting in the driver's seat. "Yeah," Lilly mumbled to herself, "it's just your friendly neighborhood lesbian. Don't get too close. You don't know what you might catch."

"Uh, hi," Miley smiled softly, pushing a loose strand of her wavy hair back behind one ear as she slowly approached the window. "You're Lilly, right?"

"Yup," Lilly smiled broadly, "that's me." When Miley didn't say anything else, just looked at her with a crease between her brows, the green-eyed girl sighed, her smile disappearing as if it had never been. "Look, I'm just delivering your feed since Ed's not up to it tonight. Where do you want me to unload?" she asked with a defeated tone.

"Oh!" Miley shook herself from some kind of stupor. "Y-yeah. Sorry. You can drop it down by the stables. It's not that far, but you have to make a couple of turns." The girl that had been filling Lilly's dreams jogged around the front of the truck and opened the passenger's door. "It's easier if I show you," she said as she climbed into the truck and slammed the door shut. "Just head down here," she said while pointing out the windshield," and take your first left."

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Lilly swallowed visibly, her eyes tracing the long, muscular, and gorgeous bare legs so close to her. She gulped again and then forced herself to face forward and put the truck in gear. She considered herself lucky that she hadn't stalled the thing she was shaking so badly. She followed Miley's directions until they came to a well-lit ten stall stable, also of red brick. Miley reached into her shorts pocket and pulled out a remote. When she pressed the button a dark brown painted door about half the width of a normal garage door on the left side of the building started sliding up to reveal a storage area. An overhead light kicked on at the same time. Lilly just shook her head. _Rich people! What's wrong with a regular damn door?_

Lilly backed her truck up to the opening and shut off the engine. She grabbed her work gloves from the dash and pulled them on before opening her door and stepping out and down. Where most people would have found dirt, Lilly stepped onto black asphalt. The entire drive from the road to the stables, something over a quarter mile, had been paved. She shook her head again at the waste of good hard cash. "Where you want it?" she called out to the girl just jumping down from the cab as she dropped the dented tailgate.

"This is the tack room. There's a door to your left just inside where we keep the feed," the pretty girl told her.

Lilly trotted over and glanced inside and saw the door off to her left. She walked in and flipped a light switch to her right. Inside was a neatly laid out room, about twelve-by-twelve, with various types of feed and shelves or cabinets of equine veterinary supplies that were safe for an owner or trainer to administer.

"We can put them over against the right wall," Miley said as she came up behind her carrying the first of the twenty bags.

"I can get that!" Lilly exclaimed as Miley walked past her and deposited the first of the bags onto a wooden pallet that would keep the expensive feed off the floor in case of water seepage.

"I'm stronger than I look," Miley smiled at her, flexing a thin arm to show off a fairly decent bulge of muscle. "I'm not just a pretty face," she grinned. "I do a lot of work around the farm. It keeps my muscles in shape for cheerleading and riding."

"So I see," Lilly chuckled, her eyes once again running appreciatively from the brunette's calves all the way up to her face before turning and heading back out to the truck to grab the next bag. She had to slurp up the drool she felt in the corner of her mouth. "Still, this is my job," she called out over her shoulder. "You shouldn't have to help me unload."

"It's no trouble at all," Miley grinned as she came up from behind and grabbed another bag for herself. "Besides, two will get the job done faster than one."

"Yeah, but I'm getting time-and-a-half for this run," Lilly smirked.

"I won't tell if you don't," Miley returned with her own devilish grin. "By the way, good game today. I didn't get a chance to congratulate you. That homer in the third, and the winning run you knocked in in the bottom of the sixth; that was good going. Not to mention the seven strikeouts."

Lilly was beyond shocked. She didn't think Miley was paying any attention to the game, let alone Lilly's contributions to the win. Her surprise must have shown on her face because Miley gave her a look and rolled her eyes. "I may not be all that great at sports myself, but that doesn't mean I don't like them," the blue-eyed girl smiled somewhat shyly.

Lilly shook her head. "Isn't cheerleading a sport?" she asked as she grabbed another load.

Miley laughed. It was an uninhibited, earthy sound that sent shivers down the blonde's spine and straight to her fingertips such that she nearly dropped the bag of feed she was carrying. "When you see competitive cheerleading in the Olympics I'll consider it a sport. Until then I just think of it as a relatively athletic hobby. At least it keeps me in shape." She showed one of her guns again causing Lilly to laugh. "Oh, you think you're so hot? I've shown you mine. Show me yours," Miley demanded, again with that rough laugh. Lilly dropped her bag on the growing stack inside the feed room and flexed her right arm. "Jeez Louise," Miley gasped softly. She dropped her own bag somewhat haphazardly and reached out to gently feel the hard muscle of Lilly's bare bicep. "You're bigger than Jake," Miley said softly with a touch of awe.

Twice in a single day, it was exactly the wrong thing to say. Lilly had felt a spark run from Miley's fingers through her bicep and directly to her core, sparking a heat that she'd only felt late at night while lying in her own bed and thinking of the cheerleader. That heat died a cold death with the mention of Miley's boyfriend's name. "Yeah," she sighed, dropping her arm and walking back out to the truck for the last load.

"Did I say something wrong?" Miley asked with concern as she followed the blonde out to her truck to grab the last bag.

"No, nothing," Lilly mumbled as she turned and hustled the bag into the stables and dropped it on the pile, now happy that Miley had helped with the unloading. That meant she'd be able to get out of there all the sooner. She fixed the one that Miley had messed up and then turned to take the last one from the brunette's arms, dropping it on the pile with another sigh. "Thanks for the help," she mumbled again as she walked back past the confused and worried girl and out to her truck. She started up the engine and then sat there while Miley closed the tack room door with the remote and then climbed in the truck for the ride back to the house.

"Look, Lilly, I'm sorry if I said anything wrong," Miley said more to the hands she held in her lap fiddling with the remote control than to the girl sitting next to her in the cab. "It's not like I was trying to say you look like a guy. You don't. You look…good. Cute! I was just a bit surprised that you had so much muscle, but I guess I shouldn't have been. I mean, I know you work out, and haul around heavy bags of stuff at your job, and your pitching has to have built up muscle. I just,"

"It's not a problem," Lilly sighed, interrupting the apology as she slowed down for the first turn back to the main house. "I'm used to it. I hear it all the time, how I'm so 'butch' and stuff."

"But that's what I mean!" Miley exclaimed loudly as she turned to her. "You're not! You've got a great figure! You're definitely feminine!"

"Tell that to your boyfriend," Lilly said under her breath, but not softly enough it seemed.

"Jake? Jake calls you 'butch'?"

"That and many other things," Lilly sighed as she took the final turn. "He's been calling me names like 'butch,' and 'dyke,' and 'lezbo,' and," she trailed off not wanting to voice some of the other things Jake and his friends had called her over the years. "He's been calling me things ever since I came out. It's like I'm his personal verbal punching bag…and not only him. All his friends as well. Everyone that wants to stay on his good side or be in his crowd. For nearly four years it's been like that. So feel free to compare me to just about anyone but Jake Ryan. I. Am. Not. Like. Him!"

"I don't believe it," Miley gasped softly. "He's never said anything like that around me." She looked up at the girl sitting next to her. "I'll talk to him. Tell him to stop," but Lilly just shook her head, unable to decide if she wanted to laugh or cry at the other girl's naiveté.

"Don't bother. He won't stop, even if you tell him to. That's just who he is. I can take it."

"But you shouldn't have to!" Miley complained loudly.

"Just part of being gay in a conservative southern town," Lilly shrugged again.

"It's still not right," the brunette pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. Lilly pulled the truck up to her front door.

"Thank you, Miley," she said, turning to look at the now upset girl. "I really do appreciate it, but there's nothing you can do. If it wasn't Jake it'd be someone else. That's just the way things are around here."

"It's still not right."

"Life's not fair," Lilly shrugged. "It's nice just to know that you don't hold my orientation against me." She chuckled softly. "I figured you'd be just like the rest of them. Too scared or too disgusted to ever be willing to get to know me."

"I'd like to," Miley whispered.

"Huh?"

"I'd like to get to know you better," she said a little louder. "That is, if you'll let me."

Lilly sat there a moment, too stunned to answer. First, because it was Miley saying it, and second…because it was Miley saying it. And yes, there was a story as to why both reasons seemed to be the same, even if they really weren't. The blonde bit her lip, silently debating before she allowed a small, almost shy smile to grace her features.

"I think maybe I'd like that as well."

Miley held out her hand and gave her a grin. "Hi, I'm Miley Stewart."

Lilly nearly started bawling at that, but forced herself to keep that small smile on her lips. It was one of the hardest things she'd ever done.

"Lilly Truscott," she replied softly, taking Miley's hand in her own.


	2. Chapter 2

_Wednesday, April 8, 2009_

Of course, any good mood that Lilly might have still been feeling from the previous night's activities was thoroughly obliterated when she entered the school the next morning and saw her locker. Someone had used various colors of nail polish to write derogatory terms on the door. "Dyke" was the least objectionable word they'd used.

"What's a 'carpet muncher'?" Joannie asked from where she stood next to her best friend. Lilly just sighed and didn't bother to try to explain. The blonde's feet slipped a bit as she approached her locker. She glanced down to see a pale yellow liquid pooled around its base.

"Oh no they didn't!" Lilly exclaimed angrily. She turned the combination on her locker and then stood back as she opened the door. A small flood of stinky urine poured out of the bottom of her locker.

"Eeew, that's so gross," Joannie whined as she held her nose.

Lilly looked inside to see all her school books and the lightweight jacket she'd hung up dripping with the fluid. She slammed the locker door closed and started stalking toward the school's main office, her fury building with every step. She reached into the pocket of her leather letter jacket and started squeezing the baseball she kept there, trying desperately to calm herself. It wasn't working. She slammed through the door to the school's office, startling the nearly eighty year old secretary.

"LUGER!" she screamed at the top of her lungs causing the secretary to raise an eyebrow at her. A tall, dark haired but greying man in his mid-forties came rushing out of his office. He stopped when he saw her face and took two steps backwards.

"Miss…Miss Truscott?" he squeaked.

"THEY PISSED IN MY LOCKER!" the blonde screamed again before slamming her fist down on top of the counter that was the only thing that separated the worried man from her anger. "They pissed in my locker," she said again, this time much more softly as she felt the tears start to build behind her eyes. Joannie came up behind her and put her arm around the suddenly crying girl.

Mr. Luger, the school's principal, came warily closer now that Lilly's fury seemed to have abated somewhat. He glanced at Joannie Palumbo for an explanation.

"They wrote things on her locker and poured cow or horse piss through the upper vents," she told the man. "Everything's ruined. Her school books, her clothes, her papers…everything."

The older man sighed. "We'll replace all the school books," he turned to look at his secretary who nodded and then got up to make her slow way back to a small store room to start gathering up the necessary books. "We'll also get your clothes cleaned over at Dewitts's. I'll have to switch your locker temporarily until we get this one cleaned up."

"Th-they p-pissed in my l-locker," Lilly wept quietly. She laid her head down on the top of the counter, cradling her face in her hands.

"What about punishing the culprits?" Joannie asked in her own angry voice.

"If we knew who they were, of course we'd punish them," Mr. Luger sighed, "but who's to say who it was. It's not like we have security cameras or a forensics lab around here. Sheriff Duffy could probably dust for prints, but I know they don't have many student prints on file unless they've already been in trouble with the law…and it would require sending them up to Nashville to get them checked out. They might get back to us sometime in the next five years." He shook his head. "All we can do is make some kind of announcement…"

"NO!" Lilly snapped, raising her head to glare at him with her red-rimmed eyes. He took a step back at the anger and anguish in those dark green eyes. "That's all they'd need. It'd be just one more reason to humiliate me. You don't need forensics. You know who did it just as much as I do. It was Jake and his boys!"

"Their girls too," Joannie added.

"But you're right," Lilly sighed with dejection. "We have no evidence so there's nothing that can be done. No way to prove it was them."

"I know you keep telling me that Jake and the boys keep harassing you, Miss Truscott, but there's never been anyone that could corroborate your allegations. No adults, no teachers or administrators, not even any students except Miss Palumbo here. Are you sure…"

"Don't even start on that Luger," Lilly seethed, her anger returning at the age old complaint and only physically restrained by the counter and her friend's arm that suddenly tightened around her shoulders. "You know they'd never do or say anything in front of anyone with authority, and all the students are afraid to say anything against him because he's the Mayor's son." She looked him straight in the eye and demanded him to dispute her. "You _know_ it's them, you're just too afraid to say or do anything about it. After all, _he's_ the Mayor's son. I'm just a _perverted queer!_"

For the first time that morning Gerald Luger lifted his chin and straightened his back. He looked squarely back at her as he spoke. "This has nothing to do with your sexual orientation. Frankly I could care less! As far as I'm concerned you are just another one of my students…no better or worse, no different or less important than any other student under my care. I will take into account that you are upset, but I will not countenance any claims that I am bigoted against you simply because you are gay."

"Then don't just sit on your hands and turn a blind eye to what's going on in _your_ school to _your_ students, Mr. Luger," Joannie said for her friend. "Get out from behind your mahogany desk and walk the halls. See what's going on in _your_ school. I'll guarantee you'll get an eyeful. In fact, why don't you start by walking back with us to Lilly's locker so you can get a first-hand look at what they did to her?"

"I think I will," the older man said with a nod of his chin. He walked around the counter that had been separating him from more than just these two students for far too long and led them down the hallway.

"It's the other way, _sir_," Lilly sneered.

"Oh, of course," the man sniffed and then followed the students down the hall to Lilly's locker. Mr. Sloan, the school's engineer and janitor, was already there with a bucket and mop, cleaning up the spilled urine. An odor of pine filled the hall as students passed him by with sidelong glances at the defaced locker as he worked. Standing next to him was a pretty girl with long wavy brown hair.

"Miley?" Lilly gaped as Joannie looked on with more than a bit of confusion at the cheerleader's presence.

"I heard all the commotion and thought I'd see what was up," the blue-eyed girl said in a small voice.

"Well," Lilly coughed at the mixture of smells as she ran the combination for her locker and opened the door, "have a look for yourself."

"Oh sweet niblets!" Miley gasped as she took in the destruction on the inside of the locker. "When did this happen? Who did this?"

"It was this way when I got here this morning," Lilly told her, "and we don't know, but I have my suspicions," the blonde said with a pointed look at a group of laughing guys and girls down the hall, one of which was Miley's boyfriend Jake Ryan. Lilly semi-closed the locker door to show Miley the epithets that had been painted on just in case she hadn't noticed them before. Miley turned her head away. "That's sick," she whispered. Lilly wondered just exactly what Miley thought was sick; the epithets, or the acts between two girls that the words brought to mind? She prayed that it was the former but she didn't get much of a chance to think about it.

"Miley!" Jake Ryan said with a touch of anger in his voice as he came down the hall followed by his hanger's on, "don't get too close. You don't know what you'll catch."

"Shut up Jake!" Miley turned on him. "Don't be an ass." Her eyes got a sad look in them. "Please tell me you had nothing to do with this," she said with a wave toward the defaced locker.

"Of course not, sweetie," he smiled and cooed as he put a proprietary arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "I'd never dirty my hands with something as nasty as this. I'm sure it was just meant as a harmless prank. Right guys?" he grinned, the group standing behind him snickering behind their hands.

"Oh, yeah, no real harm meant," said one smiling boy.

"I'm sure it was just a prank," said another as he tried not to laugh.

"Not that she probably didn't deserve it," said one girl with a sneer as she hung on to her boyfriend.

"Don't say that Amber!" Miley said angrily. She turned back to the locker and stepped up to take a closer look at the words on the door. "Isn't this your color Amber?" she asked the black haired girl. "And this is your color, Ashley," she told Amber's best friend as she pointed to another of the phrases painted on with nail polish. She turned back to the group, pure anger on her face as she put her hands on her hips to confront them. "As Captain of the cheer squad, I'd hate to have to kick anyone off the team for defacing public property, let alone bullying a fellow student. I won't have it!" Both girls' jaws dropped open at her threat.

"Calm down sweetie," Jake said again as he tried to put his arm around her. She shrugged him off and stepped away.

"And if I find out that you had anything to do with this Jake, we're through!"

"And if I find out that you had anything to do with this Mr. Ryan," Principal Luger said, "you will find yourself with a month's suspension."

"I swear I didn't touch her locker," Jake said solemnly while holding up a three finger salute, as if he'd ever been a Boy Scout.

"Interesting word choice," Lilly said with a sneer. "Not that you had nothing to do with it, only that you didn't touch my locker."

"Listen you faggot," he snarled, spinning and stepping toward her menacingly only to find himself the recipient of a hard slap to the face from an enraged Miley.

"Don't. You. Dare," she said menacingly. "From what I've seen, she'd kick your butt from here to Jackson without breaking a sweat." She turned away from him. "Lilly told me…but I didn't want to believe it," she sniffed, "but you are nothing but a big fat bigot and a homophobe."

"Hey, I'm no homo queer!" the blonde boy screeched.

Lilly couldn't help herself. She started laughing at his stupidity and couldn't stop. As soon as he took a step toward her Miley, Joannie and Mr. Luger got in his way.

"Go home, Mr. Ryan, and don't come back until next Monday," he told the student. "If your father asks why, feel free to have him call me. I'll be happy to explain the situation to Joseph. In the meantime, I'll be personally investigating this incident and if I find out that you're involved _in any way_ you'll be wishing you hadn't. I hate to think what UT Knoxville and my good friend Derek will say when they find out."

"You'd better watch your back, Truscott," Jake threatened while pointing a finger in her face. Lilly grabbed it with her left hand and squeezed slowly, watching his face turn pale from the instant pain.

"You want to try me Ryan?" she whispered menacingly. "Bring it on. Miley doesn't even know the half of it." She pulled the baseball out of her right jacket pocket and with a quick roundhouse swing let it fly down the hall. It slammed into the cinderblock wall, leaving a noticeable dent before falling slowly to the floor. "My balls are bigger than yours," she sneered before letting him go. Cradling his aching finger he gave her a hard look and then stalked down the hall and out the front doors of the school.

"You were right Miss Palumbo," Mr. Luger sighed dejectedly. "It's good to get out of my office once in a while. I certainly did get an eyeful as well as an earful, as much as I wish I hadn't." He turned to the remainder of Jake's crew. "Unless you want to be joining Mr. Ryan, I suggest you get to class…and ladies," he said pointedly to Amber and Ashley, "might I also suggest you change your color of nail polish," he told them with a glance at their hands. Both girls quickly put their hands behind their backs, their anxious looks bouncing between the school Principal and their cheer Captain.

"We'll be talking," Miley told the two girls threateningly before they turned to run and catch up with their boyfriends. The brunette then turned guilty eyes on the blonde girl standing next to her locker. "I'm sorry Lilly. I honestly had no idea this was going on," she murmured, her head down.

Lilly waved off her apology. "There was no reason for you to know. It's not like he was going to advertise or do it in front of you. I've put up with his sh, manure for four years, ever since I dumped his sorry ass and came out of the closet."

"Wait! You were dating Jake in eighth grade!" Miley's eyes widened.

"Yeah, both seventh and eighth grade until I realized I just wasn't into him…or any other boy for that matter. He wasn't too happy about it," Lilly giggled.

"You girls better get going as well," Mr. Luger told them. "You don't want to be late for class. Stop by the office later Miss Truscott and I'll assign you a temporary locker until this one gets cleaned up. I'll also have those replacement textbooks ready for you. And," he reached into the locker and plucked out her sodden jacket with two fingers, "I'll send this over to Dewitt's to be cleaned. It should be ready for you to pick up on your way home today."

"Thanks Principal Luger," the green-eyed girl smiled at him. She knew he wasn't really a bad guy. He just had a tendency to stick his head in the sand.

"Just you watch yourself young lady," he warned her, his concern for the young woman obvious in his voice. "You may be able to kick Jake Ryan's ass from here to Jackson, but even you'll have problems with four of five of them."

"She'll have company," Joannie told the older man while cracking her knuckles.

"I'll be there too," Miley stated emphatically.

"As will the rest of the softball team," Joannie finished. "Unless those guys are ready to take on fourteen girls carrying aluminum bats, they'll be smart to steer clear."

Lilly couldn't believe what she was hearing. She'd expect Joannie to stand by her, but Miley? The team?

"We have to protect our star player," Joannie smirked at her. "There's not a girl on the team that won't stand with you."

Lilly sniffed and wiped her nose and then rubbed at the moisture gathering in her eyes. "Thanks guys," she smiled at them.

"That's what friends are for," Miley replied with a wide grin.

Lilly felt like kissing her, and not for any of the reasons she'd previously fantasized about.

-oo-

"I can't believe it. He seemed like such a nice boy," Miley's father, Robby Ray, said for the fourth or fifth time.

"Believe it Daddy," Miley sighed, "Jake's just as bad as the rest of them."

"And who's this girl…oh, wait, you mean little Lilly Truscott don't ya? She's the one they were bullying?"

"How'd you know?" Miley asked, stunned.

"It's a small town, bud," Robby smiled. "_Cheers_ ain't got nothing on Crowley Corners when it comes to everyone knowin' your name and gettin' in your business. You gonna try to tell me there's another out and proud lesbian teen in this town?"

"No," Miley grinned at her father. "I just can't believe that I hadn't spoken to her before. I mean, yeah, we've been in the same schools for forever, but I've never really talked to her."

"You don't remember, huh?" Robby smiled sadly. "Her ma runs the beauty shop down on Main. Your mother used to take you there all the time and the two of you would get your hair done. You and Lilly were thick as thieves back then," his eyes looked down as his voice got softer. "After your mom died you decided you wanted to let your hair grow out so it would be more like hers. Then we moved out to Cali for those four years and you started your career as Hannah. You haven't been to Heather Truscott's beauty shop since we got back. We always go up to Nashville now to get your hair done."

"Why don't I remember any of that?" Miley shook her head, unable to believe what he was saying. "I mean, Lilly's so sweet. I can't believe that I forgot all about her in just a few years. You must have it wrong."

"The mind works in odd ways, bud," her father told her, reaching over to take her hand as they sat on the sofa in the family room. "And when we got back you hooked up with Jake and his friends, you became a cheerleader and joined the Equestrian Club at school. I guess the two of you just moved with different crowds. And it sounds like Jake didn't do anything to help bring you and Lilly together either."

"Something else I can _thank_ him for," the brunette commented sarcastically.

"Yeah, well, sounds like he got his ego a bit bruised when Lilly dumped him just before she came out and we moved back. There's no excuse for what he done, but I can see how it might have affected him. That boy's always been too proud for his own good and his daddy ain't been much of a guiding influence on him. Joe's always had a snootful of pride himself if you ask me."

"The one I'm really proud of is Lilly," Miley smiled gently. "She knows exactly who she is and accepts herself. She has her own pride, but not so it would affect anyone else. Maybe instead of 'pride,' maybe 'stubbornness' is a better term. Or maybe both. All I know is that I wish I had just one tenth of her courage."

"Now, don't go selling yourself short, bud," her father told her sternly. "You've got a ton of courage yourself. It's not easy to step in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans all demanding that you sing to them only."

"But those fans love Hannah." Miley pointed out. "Lilly's coming out had just the exact opposite effect. She's more shunned than loved by everyone. Joannie Palumbo told me that she's even been banned from her church because she's gay."

"Sounds to me that you really like this girl," Robby grinned.

"I do," Miley smiled shyly. "She's sweet, and cute, and athletic, and she really seems to care about her friends. She's put up with everyone's teasing and bullying, but she's never let it get her down that I can tell. She's chosen a hard path, but she's being true to herself. It's hard not to like and admire someone like that."

Robby gave her a smile. He'd seen that look before and wasn't going to put a damper on it. Not if it made her happy. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug. "Then be sure to take care of her, baby girl. She sounds like a keeper."

"Yeah, she is," Miley agreed softly with a small, shy smile.

-oo-

Lilly was lying on her bed, the cordless phone held up to her ear. She had a cell phone for emergencies, but whenever she was home she tried to use the home phone to save on plan minutes and keep the bill down. Her mother's beauty shop was doing fine and made enough to meet their needs, but it never hurt to try to save money wherever you could.

"I'm still finding it kind of hard to believe that Miley stood up for me like that," Lilly said with a touch of wonder in her voice.

Joannie's laughter came through loud and clear. "I'm not surprised at all. Miley's always been like that, even before she headed off to California. She's always been the first to get riled up over something she thought was unjust or unfair."

"Yeah," Lilly sighed. "We had so much fun back before she left…at least before her mother died. I thought I'd cry forever when she moved away. And when she got back it was like the sun had returned after a long absence. But then she was immediately usurped by Jake and his cronies. Not like I wasn't already," she paused to consider how best to proceed, "I guess _persona non grata_ is the most polite way to put it. Pretty much everyone dumped me after I came out. Everyone except you and Oliver, that is."

"You've got a lot more friends than you know girl," Joannie admonished her. "There's me and Ollie, Todd, Billy and Ed at the feed store, and all the girls on the softball team…and now Miley's back in your life. You know she's going to stand by you through thick and thin. That girl's always been there for her friends."

"I guess her four years in Malibu gave her enough of an opportunity to meet gay folks that it's not such a big thing for her," Lilly replied softly while shrugging her shoulders even though her friend couldn't see the motion.

"You know that's not true Lilly," Joannie chided her friend. "Miley's never been one to care about things like that. That father and mother of hers raised that girl right."

"Whatever," Lilly chuckled quietly. "I'm just happy that I can spend time with her again. I'm just…happy!"

"I can tell," Joannie replied and Lilly could hear the smile in her voice. "You've loved that girl since before she left after fourth grade."

"Liked," Lilly giggled, "and I've _liked_ her since the first time I met her." She smiled to herself. "I only realized I loved her after she'd moved away. Then I started dating Jake in seventh. Man! That was a mistake and a half. I swear I started dating him just to try and prove I wasn't in love with another girl. But at least it proved that boys just didn't do it for me," she smirked.

"Don't start up with your teasing again," Joannie chuckled. "I've already got enough fodder for masturbatory fantasies without your helpful additions."

"You know you want it baby," Lilly said in a low, sultry voice before laughing when she heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line.

"What I know is that you've got a career in phone sex if you ever want one!" Joannie squeaked and tried to laugh but was breathing too hard and trying to slow her heart rate that had about doubled just at the sound of that sexy voice. All this did was make Lilly laugh all the harder. "Seriously though," Joannie continued once she'd gotten her breathing back under control, "are you going to tell Miley that you're in love with her?"

"I don't know," Lilly sighed. "We've just reconnected after what, six or seven years? I'm not so sure how she'd react if I walked up to her tomorrow and told her that I've been in love with her since sixth grade. I think it might be a smarter move to just let things develop with us as friends. If that goes all right, then maybe I'll be able to break the news to her that she's the girl of my dreams."

The two girls spoke for a few minutes more before they hung up. Lilly put the phone down in its charging cradle on her nightstand and then put her hands behind her head and stared up at the white ceiling of her bedroom. She'd found that by using that white surface as a canvas she could paint just about any fantasy her heart or libido could desire.

"What would you say if I told you, Miley?" the blonde asked. "How would you react if I told you _both_ of my secrets?" Her lips turned up in a smile. "One of these days, if I'm really lucky, maybe I'll find out."

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading and please feel free to drop me a comment/review/PM and let me know your thoughts.

Take care,

CX


	3. Chapter 3

_Thursday, April 9, 2009_

Lilly did not walk up to Miley the next morning at school and profess her undying love. She was surprised, however, to see Miley standing in the school parking lot seeming to be waiting on something or someone. She was leaning against her gold Mustang and glancing at her watch while she played with her hair. Lilly pulled into her normal spot while Joannie, in her light blue '68 Bug, pulled up next to her. The blonde saw Miley's head snap up at the sound of the hemi cutting off and a large, wide smile graced that gorgeous face as she looked over at the pickup.

"Do not drool, Truscott. Do not drool," Lilly chanted to herself, but she couldn't keep the grin off her lips. Miley was wearing her cheerleader uniform with its too-short, sky blue and white pleated skirt and white sleeveless tank with the roaring cougar on it. The outfit exposed long, shapely legs, slender arms and, because it was the same one she'd had last year, a touch of her belly. Lilly wiped her lips just to be sure there was no leaking spittle before getting out of her truck to meet the girl who was already making her way toward her. She snarled at the giggling she heard coming from her best friend behind her.

"That outfit ought to be illegal," Lilly murmured to herself but realized her voice must have carried in the cool morning air because Miley's lips turned up into a smirk and her eyes sparkled with devilment as she struck a pose with a hand on one hip and a knee canted.

"Like what you see?" Miley purred and then blushed scarlet and covered her face with her hands. "Please tell me I did not just say that!" Both the flirty and the flustered Miley were just too damned cute Lilly thought.

"You did, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't," Lilly chuckled in a low voice that sent a shiver down the brunette's spine and curled her toes. The blonde felt her own cheeks flushing from that admission, but luckily her best friend came to her rescue.

"Miley Ray Stewart, you are hereby placed under citizen's arrest for being too damned sexy," Joannie laughed which caused Miley to giggle. Two girls flirting with each other was one thing; three was something else entirely. Joannie slid an eye to her friend who mouthed a silent 'thank you' to her. The darker blonde just grinned in return.

"Are you thinking of switching to the other team?" Miley asked Joannie with a giggle.

"No," Joannie smiled and then glanced sidelong at Lilly, "although this girl's voice, when she gets all sexy and sultry like that, could get just about anyone thinking that being a switch hitter might not be such a bad thing."

"Oh?" Miley smirked at her. "Been having any good phone sex?" It was Joannie's turn to blush. The taller blonde got a bit defensive, but a smile still graced her features as she replied in a soft, shy voice.

"You try listening to her on the phone when she gets like that and then tell me you don't think about touching yourself." Lilly lifted an eyebrow at this little surprise confession which caused Joannie to blush even harder.

"Sounds like we need to talk on the phone," Miley teased the green-eyed girl. Lilly laughed.

"I'll need to get your number for that."

"All right," Miley smiled that broad smile that showed her perfect white teeth as she reached into her backpack and pulled out her cell. She handed it to Lilly who put in both her home and cell number and then looked up Miley's so that she could put it in her own. With the phone returned, Miley slipped an arm through each of the other girls' and started leading them toward the steps of the school. "Feel free to call me anytime," she said while looking over at the slightly shorter pitcher. She hadn't realized that Lilly was shorter than she was even if it was only by an inch or so. "Maybe you can get me to touch myself," she giggled.

"Is that a dare?" Lilly smirked.

"Maaaybe," Miley replied with her own smirk and then giggled again.

"Be careful, Miley," Joannie laughed. "Lilly never turns down a dare." She spied her boyfriend Todd waiting for her on the school steps so she reclaimed her arm and with a wave trotted off to be gathered up in his arms and receive her morning kiss. Lilly sighed as she turned her head away.

"What's wrong?" Miley asked her.

"Just jealous," Lilly replied softly. "Joannie and Todd have been together for almost a year now. I'm glad that she's happy with him, and I know he loves her, but…"

"But it hurts as well because there's no one here like that for you," Miley said knowingly with true concern in the too deep blue eyes she turned on her. Lilly nodded.

"There was a girl over at Chandler who I spoke with once, but we realized that there wasn't any spark pretty quickly. Last time I saw her at a game she was sitting in the stands holding another girl's hand. I won't ever break up another couple even if I decided I liked someone." _Which is why I never got between you and Jake_, she thought to herself.

"Why doesn't that surprise me," Miley smiled at her, but was still concerned with the tone of Lilly's voice. It sounded so forlorn and resigned. Like she'd given up all hope of ever finding someone to love.

By that time they'd arrived inside the school and had to go their separate ways to get the things that they'd need for class out of their lockers before they met back in their classroom.

Crowley High was like a lot of other small town high schools. There'd been a slight baby boom a few years both before and after Lilly was born so there were a few more teens in the high school than there usually was. There were enough students in the school that they'd been able to split them out into eight classrooms, two per grade, with a student/teacher ratio of about twelve to one. Unlike larger schools, most lessons occurred in the same classroom including English (grammar, literature appreciation, and creative writing), Math (pre-Algebra all the way to the start of Calculus), History/Government and Biology/Chemistry although all classes shared the same chemistry lab for their experiments.

They did switch classrooms for some few elective courses that the school offered including Computer Programming and Web Design, Home Economics and Personal Finance, Art, Chorus, Band and Orchestra, Auto Shop and, of course, Physical Education. Between the mandatory classes and the electives, a student could garner over their four-year high school career a sufficient selection of classes that would make any college or university happy.

Most of the mandatory classes occurred before and just after lunch with the electives falling during the afternoons. The PE classes went throughout the day since all students had to use the same gym, track and combination football and soccer field.

Perry County wasn't a rich county by any means, but neither was it exactly the poorest in the state. However it wasn't the semi-decent salaries, benefits and low cost of living that drew the teachers in. It was predominantly the relatively peaceful and relaxed lifestyle in a countryside which was idyllic by anyone's standards.

After grabbing some things from her new locker, Lilly walked into Karen Kunkle's classroom and found her usual seat at the center of the back row. Assigned seating wasn't necessary with such a small group of students and it had taken all of a day for Lilly to find herself the lone occupant of that row except for her friend Joannie who normally sat in the desk to her left. Today, however, she found a somewhat bouncy cheerleader taking the usually unoccupied seat to her right.

"Are you sure you want to be seen back here?" she asked Miley sotto voce. She'd meant it to be a gentle warning of what might happen if people thought that the brunette was hanging out with the 'lez,' but she hadn't expected the slightly hurt look on the girl's face.

"Don't you want me sitting with you?"

"Of course I do!" Lilly exclaimed in a loud whisper, "I just don't want you to have to endure some of the things I've had to if people get the wrong idea."

"And what would be 'the wrong idea,' Lilly?" Miley asked with her arms crossed over her chest and a raised eyebrow that told Lilly she'd better be smart in how she answered the question.

"Well…you know…like…we were…you know…together," the blonde stammered.

"And would that be such a bad thing?" Miley asked softly, with a touch of a smirk to her lips.

"Yes! I mean no! I-I mean," but Miley had started giggling at how flustered Lilly had become, bringing a scowl to the blonde's lips.

"Let them think what they want," the blue-eyed girl smiled at her, making Lilly's heart melt like a tub of butter left outside on a hot August day. "It's been too long since we've had a chance to be together. I'm just now starting to remember all the good times we had when we were kids. I don't want to give that up."

"Oh, gee, thanks," Lilly scoffed and crossed her arms over her own chest in feigned indignation. "It's nice to know that I'm so forgettable?"

"No! That's not what I meant," Miley exclaimed defensively and was going to go on until she saw the laughter in her friend's eyes. "You're a meanie," she pouted instead.

"Yeah, but you want me," Lilly purred in that soft, low, sexy voice that had shivers running up and down Miley's spine until they all came together in one central point just about where her thighs joined.

"Joannie was right," the brunette said breathily with a pink tinge to her cheeks. "You've definitely got a career in phone sex or even as a voice actress for porn movies if you ever wanted to."

"Oh? And would you be interested if I were?" Lilly drawled again and that small flame sparked a bit higher in Miley's core.

"I don't know," she smiled, trying to cover up with levity the way Lilly was making her feel, "call me tonight and I'll let you know," she grinned.

"It's a date," Lilly replied with a smoldering look that would have had her weak in the knees if she hadn't already been sitting down. "I get off work at nine tonight, so how about I give you a call around ten. That should still be early enough for you to take a cold shower before bedtime if you have to," she chuckled evilly, sending another shiver down the blue-eyed girl's spine.

"I'll be waiting," she grinned. Miley was sure that she'd never looked more forward to a simple telephone call than she did this one.

-oo-

Lilly was out on the mound throwing warm-up pitches to Joannie while Miley and her fellow cheerleaders were warming up the crowd. Amber and Ashley had both continued to protest their innocence over what had been done to Lilly's locker and since Miley didn't have any direct proof she couldn't really throw them off the team. Even as Captain of the squad she really didn't have that kind of power anyway. Only their teacher-advisor, Ms. Daniels, could do something like that. However, that didn't mean that she couldn't give the two girls extra jobs, like helping to bring the cooler of sports drink out to the dugout so the softball players didn't get dehydrated. Both girls groused loudly over the indignity of having to perform such menial labor, complaining all the while about how they might break a nail, but all they got out of their Captain was a smile and a somewhat less than sincere thanks for their efforts.

The phone call the previous evening between her and Lilly had been relatively short but it had still been a lot of fun. Miley still couldn't believe that she'd forgotten more than five years' worth of memories between the two of them. She really hadn't wanted the call to end even if she couldn't get Lilly to try out her phone sex voice on her. Unfortunately her father called up to her to tell her that her Aunt Dolly was on the other line and wanted to speak with her. They'd ended up promising to talk again and the brunette had hung up with a sigh, for some reason looking forward to school more than she had in a long time.

The game was in the top of the fifth inning and the Cougars were leading 2-1 when Miley started a chant of "Lilly-Lilly-Lilly." The crowd was getting into it and she could see the smarmy smile on the blonde pitcher's lips when she heard a male voice in the crowd start up a counter chant.

"Lezzy-Lezzy-Lezzy." Miley scanned the crowd only to find the suspended Jake Ryan on the top row of bleachers out near first base. He'd brought his crew with him and they were laughing and chanting along with him. A few of the other students in the stands caught up the chant and soon the sound of "Lezzy-Lezzy-Lezzy" was overshadowing her own cheering. Seeing the anger on the brunette's face, Jake came sauntering down the bleachers to stand in front of her.

"Hey babe," he said with a smirk as he tried to put his arms around her waist. Miley twisted and stepped back away from him, her anger only growing.

"Don't 'babe' me you jerk. What do you think you're doing? Why are you even here? You're suspended for the rest of the week!"

"First, it's a public game so I can't be kept out. Second," he sneered, "I'm just letting everyone know what a freak lezbo Truscott is. I like to think I'm doing my public service to ensure that all the parents of the little kiddies know just what a pervert they're supporting."

"If anyone here's a freak and perv it's you!" Miley spat. "You've been trying, unsuccessfully mind you, to get in my pants ever since freshman year. And don't think I haven't heard the rumors about you and your little sex parties." She turned a quick glare at Ashley and Amber, both of which looked guilty as sin at her words. "But even that's not the worst thing about you. No, you're also a bully and a ho-mo-phobe," she drawled the word. "You know what they say about those who protest too much?" she smirked.

While she'd been yelling at him she'd slowly been forcing him back against the chain link fence surrounding the field.

"Hey, Jake!" he heard a familiar voice yell out to him from the field. He turned just in time for a fast pitch softball to hit the fence at just the right height and with enough speed that galvanized metal contacted button-down blue jeans which contacted family jewels. The end result was Jake writhing on the dirt clutching himself and groaning in pain.

"Uh, ball?" the ump called out in confusion at the wild pitch.

"Make it two," Lilly smirked as her teammates cheered her on.

-oo-

"And payback's a bitch," Lilly spat out a glob of blood and used her tongue to make sure that none of her teeth were loose. After the game Jake and two of his pack had tried to corner her as she came out of the locker room after most everyone else had left. She'd quickly taken down one of the boys with a well-placed baseball to the crotch, but that still left two. Jake and the other had been able to get in a few good blows, including a hard right to her jaw and another fist to her left eye before they thought they heard someone coming and had run off rather than chance getting caught, gathering up their fallen comrade along the way.

She'd acquitted herself fairly well she thought. The second boy was going to be sporting at least one nice shiner by the morning along with a few bruises. It didn't surprise her in the least that Jake kept pushing the other boy at her and then striking out at her from behind when she was otherwise occupied. Even still, she'd gotten in a couple of good licks, just not on the one target she'd really hoped for.

It was the first time that she'd been physically assaulted in such a manner since she'd come out of the closet back in eighth grade. She'd been pushed and tripped over the years, but never had anyone actually raised a fist to her before today. She didn't know if it was the fact that Miley had broken up with him, that he'd gotten caught and suspended for threatening her in front of a school official and possibly defacing her locker, or because Lilly had bruised his ego along with his nads at the game.

Maybe it was all three.

All the blonde knew was that Jake Ryan blamed her for everything that was now going wrong in his life and had finally decided that he wanted to take it out on her flesh rather than on what little decent reputation she had left to her. That she'd been able to make him that angry almost made her smile with malicious glee until the stretching of her jaw muscles reminded her that it might not be such a good idea.

With a sigh Lilly trudged over to where her truck was parked, not really wanting to head over to her job but needing the money more than she wanted to lie down on her nice sweet bed with a bag or two of ice. She also knew it would be a waste of time to report her assault to good 'ol Sheriff Duffy. The man was nice enough and did a decent enough job, but he couldn't create evidence or find witnesses that didn't exist. It would be a case of 'he said-she said' and the whole thing would quietly go away…until the next time. It wasn't worth the effort. She had a better chance taking care of the situation herself than she did relying on others.

More bad news was waiting for her in the parking lot. All four of the tires on her truck had been slashed and it was sitting on its rims.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," she cursed under her breath. "That's all I need. I haven't saved up enough yet to replace them all!" She kicked the driver's side front tire and let out a screech of fury before reaching into her bag and pulling out her cell phone. She called her job and informed Tanya, Ed's wife who sometimes worked the cash register, that she'd be late getting to work if she made it in at all. Her next call was to Eli Jacobson over at his auto repair shop to have him come and tow her truck in.

"You'll need the flatbed," she sighed as she spoke to him on the phone. "And I'm going to need to set up some kind of payment plan on the replacement tires. I can give you about six hundred once I hit the bank, but I'll have to owe you for the rest."

"Don't worry, missy," Eli told her. She could hear the disappointment in his voice. She just wasn't sure whether it was due to the tire slashing or to the fact that he'd have to run her a tab. His next words answered her question. "I know you're good for it, girl. Don't you worry about that. You take whatever time you need and don't go depleting your bank account. You might need some of that for other reasons." She could hear both the concern and caring in his voice and found a small smile touching her lips. "I've got your size in stock and should be able to have you back on the road about an hour after I get her up on the lift."

"Yeah, like no one around here owns a 4X4," Lilly snickered. Her truck tire and size was probably the most prevalent one he had in stock given the number of pickups in the area and the condition of the mostly pothole filled roads. "I'll see you in a few…and Eli?"

"Yeah, girl?"

"Thanks," she said softly, meaning so much more than just what that one word could convey.

"I'll be out quick as I can, Lilly," he replied and this time she could hear the smile in his voice.

Her next call was to her mother to explain what had happened. Once she'd calmed Heather down about both the fight and the tires, she had to try to talk her out of paying the additional amount that she hadn't saved up for yet. That took until Eli showed up with his tow truck.

"Look, Mom, Eli's here so I got to go, but thanks anyway for offering. If you've got money burning a hole in your pocket why don't you splurge on something for yourself? You need the TLC more than I do. Yeah, I got it," she chuckled as she tossed her keys over to the big black man walking up to her. "Okay, love you too. I'll see you when I get home from work. Love ya. Bye."

"How'd Heather take it?" Eli asked from where he had his head stuck in her driver's door to make sure the truck wasn't in gear and that the parking brake was on until he got the chains hooked up.

"About what you'd expect, Eli," Lilly replied with a snort, trying hard not to allow her anger to come back full force nor to let the tears she felt gathering somewhere behind her eyeballs to get any closer to the surface. "She was worried at first and then pissed as shit before getting worried again. I think I finally got her settled down, at least until I get home tonight." The big man gave a low grunt of agreement before backing out to take a better look at her face.

"Your jaw and left eye are going to be about as black as I am when you wake up in the morning Lilly. You sure you're okay?" he asked, his deep bass voice filled with genuine concern.

"Yeah, thanks," the blonde replied with a sad smile and a waggle of her aching jaw. "You shoulda seen the other guy, well, at least two of them. I definitely gave better than I got on two out of the three."

Eli whistled. "Three on one? Who'd you piss off that badly?" the older man asked over his shoulder as he walked back to his truck to start the process of loading up her old hemi.

"Do you really need to guess?" was her snarky reply as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against a fender.

"Next time Jake comes in for gas I'll be sure to add a little sugar to his tank," Eli growled. There was a hint of laughter in his voice, but Lilly was pretty sure there was a whole lot of anger in there as well. It was more than nice to know that not everybody in the town hated her and that there were even those that would support her instead of simply turning a blind eye or sticking their head in the sand.

The two went on to talk about everything _but_ the fight and tires as he drove her back to his shop where, true to his word, she was fixed up and out the door in less than an hour with four brand new off-road tires mounted and balanced. He'd even given her a four-wheel alignment while he had her in the shop "free of charge." She'd tried to pay for it or get him to add it to her tab, but the older man wouldn't hear of it. "Consider it my donation to the Free the Lesbians Crusade," he'd laughed. His kindness was what finally brought the tears to her eyes, but only after she'd left him and then found a safe place on the side of the road where she could cry in private.


	4. Chapter 4

_Friday, April 10, through Saturday, April 11, 2009_

"Flibbertigibbet! What the hell happened to you Lils?" Miley squealed when she got a look at the deep purple bruises on her friend's face the next day at school. They were in the back of the classroom where Lilly was laying with her head on her arms on top of her desk.

Miley's reaction had been about the same as both Tanya's and Ed's as well as her mother's when she'd finally gotten home in the late evening after putting in as many hours at work as Ed would give her. Heather had wanted to take her to the emergency room all the way over in Lexington, but she'd eventually been able to talk her out of it. Waking up this morning had been excruciatingly painful as her jaw had practically locked shut it hurt so much to move it. Lilly had started out thinking that maybe letting her mom take her to the doctor's wasn't such a bad idea after all, but a hot shower and a few stretching exercises later informed her that nothing was truly broken, just painful. However, laying her head on her arms at least kept her from having to answer Miley's question as Joannie came to her rescue.

"Your ex and a couple of his friends decided to get a little revenge for busting his balls yesterday afternoon," Joannie heatedly informed the head cheerleader. "That's after they slashed all four of the tires on her truck."

"Oh no!" Miley squeaked, aghast at the news. "I never thought he'd…" she shook her head, unable to fathom just how little she'd really known the boy she'd been dating for the past two plus years. "Are you all right, Lilly?" she asked in a quiet voice filled with equal measures of anger at her ex-boyfriend and concern for Lilly.

"Yeah," the blonde replied softly, trying not to move her jaw too much. "Certainly better than Tom Bartle and Jimmy Dugan. Tom's at home curled up in bed with a pack of ice on his nuts and Jimmy's got two shiners and a cracked tooth. I guess I got him better than I originally thought."

Lilly had arrived at school early to try to get to class without too much fanfare only to find the Sheriff's car parked next to her normal spot. He'd told her he wasn't planning on pressing any assault charges on her for the fight after he'd told her about the damage she'd inflicted on two of her attackers.

"Neither one of them will admit to it, but you and I both know they weren't the only two there," Sheriff Duffy had gone on. "They freely admitted that they started the fight, but that's all that they'll admit. Wouldn't even say why. I think they copped to it because someone else told them to."

"You're probably right," Lilly had shrugged, "and I'll bet that you'll never get them to say anything different."

"If it makes you feel any better," Sheriff Duffy had smiled, "I heard through the grapevine that Jake Ryan was at the ER over in Lexington last night. Something about two broken fingers," he'd chuckled. "They're sayin' his daddy was royally pissed. Them fingers was on his throwin' hand." Lilly had laughed out loud and then grimaced.

"Please…don't make me laugh, Sheriff," she'd begged of the older man as she held her aching jaw.

"Tom and Jimmy's parents also both told their boys that they didn't want them hangin' round Jake no more. They couldn't believe that they'd attacked a young girl…even if she was a lesbian," he smiled. "I think you picked up a few more supporters yesterday eve, Lilly."

"Just so long as they don't try to beat me up again, that's all I ask," the blonde had shrugged.

"I knew we should have stayed around longer after the game," Joannie spat while slamming her fist onto the top of her desk.

"They'd have just jumped me somewhere else," Lilly sighed. "It's not your fault, Joannie, nor the team's. I appreciate the support, but sometimes a girl's got to fight her own battles."

"And sometimes battles shouldn't have to be fought at all," Miley said quietly as she looked sadly at the battered and bruised face of her friend.

"Yeah, well, life's a bitch and then you die," Lilly tried to shrug but a horizontal shrug just doesn't have the same impact. "Sorry," she sighed. "I'm just not in the best of moods today. I don't mean to take it out on you all."

Miley knelt down by her side and placed her hands on Lilly's arm. "I can't tell you how sorry I am that this happened, Lils," she said softly. "I just wish there was something I could do."

Lilly lifted her head a bit and smiled, patting one of the slender hands that lay on her arm. "Just knowing you care enough to say that is enough for me, Miles." It had been so long since she'd heard that name come from Miley's lips that she couldn't help but smile a bit more. Only Miley had ever called her 'Lils' and as far as she knew no one else had ever called the brunette 'Miles.' It was almost as if the intervening years had never happened and it brought a warmth to her chest that felt really nice. Miley must have been thinking something along the same lines because her cheeks turned a little pink at the nickname. "I'll be fine."

Miley seemed to search her face for a moment. "Promise?" she whispered.

"Promise," those green eyes replied with a bit of sparkle and a touch of blush.

-oo-

There was no game after school that day so Lilly was able to head directly over to her job from school. She was working in the wild animal feed aisle adding more stock to the shelves when she heard Ed call out her name to help gather a customer's order together. She was about to shout back that she'd be right there when she heard the customer's voice saying a very definitive "no." She couldn't sop herself from moving up the aisle to overhear their conversation and when she did she wished she hadn't.

"Look, Jeb," Ed was saying, "we talked about this."

"No, Ed," Jeb Harding was saying emphatically, "you talked. I just pretended to listen so that I could get my stuff and go. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't want no sinning Jezebel touching my stuff. It's bad enough that you let her work here, but I won't countenance her bein' anywhere near or havin' anythin' to do with my supplies. Hellfire, if you weren't the only feed store within twenty miles of my place I'd never shop here in the first place."

Lilly turned and slowly moved back down the aisle and into the store room where she knew she'd find Billy Taylor doing the day's inventory.

"Billy, Ed needs you to go help Jeb Harding with his load," she told the boy in a low, sad voice. Billy turned at that sound and gave her a small, commiserating smile.

"Jeb talking out his ass again?" the boy asked.

"Just…just go help him. Please, Billy," she sighed. "I'll finish up the inventory. It might be better if you handled the floor today instead of me." The young man nodded his head knowingly then, as he was passing Lilly, stopped to put a hand gently on her shoulder.

"Not everyone's as stupid as old Jeb, Lilly," he said softly. "There's more people that honor and respect you than you imagine."

"Thanks," the blonde said, giving him a wan smile before walking back to pick up the clipboard he'd been using to count up the items in inventory. People kept trying to tell her the same thing – that she had more friends than she knew about. "Wish they'd make themselves known," she whispered to herself as she started counting bags of feed corn.

A few minutes later she heard a familiar male voice call out to her from the open doorway.

"I thought I'd find you in here sulking," a lanky boy with shaggy dark brown hair and sparkling hazel eyes grinned at her while leaning against the door frame.

"Look who finally decided to crawl out of his game console and join the rest of the world," Lilly laughed, "and I wasn't sulking," she pouted and batted her eyes which just brought a giggle from her oldest friend.

"Suuure you weren't," Oliver Oken replied with a chuckle before moving into the storage room to take his childhood friend into an embrace. "I came in at the end of ol' Jeb's tirade and I figured you'd be hiding back here," he said softly into her ear. "He's an old jackass and you know it." Lilly's arms tightened around him briefly before she pushed him away, a patently fake smile on her face.

"Yeah, I know. It's just…" her voice faded away.

"It just hurts," Oliver smiled sadly as he lifted a hand to gently touch her cheek. He checked out the damage as the green-eyed girl leaned slightly into his touch and her smile became a bit more real before she turned away from him with a sniff to get back to her counting. The dark haired boy put his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. "I heard about the beat down Jake, Tom, and Jimmy gave you. And your tires. I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"Not your fault Olliepop," Lilly sighed softly and then allowed even a little more of that smile to come through, "but thanks."

"I also heard you've got an old friend back in your life again," he grinned and was rewarded with another smile from his friend, this time a shy one as her cheeks turned pink.

"Yeah, well, you'd be even more in the know if you ever came to school," she retorted. "I still don't know how you ended up with better grades than me last term when you were out, what, almost two months?"

"What can I say," he shrugged and grinned again. "Mom needed my help when my dad broke his leg falling off the loft of the barn. But ain't email a grand thing," he chuckled. "Kunkle sent all the worksheets and notes to the house and I was able to send in my work via email after dinner." He laughed then. "Nice try changing the subject, Truscott, but you're not getting out of telling me everything that's going on between you and your dream girl."

Lilly just had to chuckle as he waggled his eyebrows at her. "Nothing's going on between Miley and me. At least not what you're thinking," she told him as she leaned back against the shelving and held the clipboard to her chest, almost like a shield. "Right now I'm simply trying to be friends with her…again." Another sigh sifted through her lips.

"I heard from Joannie that she doesn't even remember that the two of you used to be tight before she left," Oliver said slowly, "but I was hoping she was exaggerating. I'm guessing now that she wasn't?"

"I wish," Lilly laughed lowly. Her jaw wasn't hurting near as badly as it had that morning. It appeared that the more she used the muscles and tendons, at least gently, the easier it got. "Miley says she's slowly remembering things from those days, but I have my doubts. She hasn't said a single thing about any of the good times we had. I think she's just being optimistic that she'll eventually remember."

"You never know," the good looking boy smirked. "The mind is both a wonderful and terrible thing. It can create the greatest art, produce the highest and lowest of emotions, or take you down into the depths of hell. Or, it can hide from you all on its own that which it doesn't think you want to see or remember. Childhood amnesia, where you forget episodes from before you were two to four years old, or even as late as ten years old, is a known fact. Repressed memories are more controversial, but many doctors think that trauma can cause a person to be motivated to forget the cause of that trauma or the times surrounding it," Oliver shrugged, "or so I've read on the web."

"The things you look up," Lilly giggled, but then turned to look at him suspiciously, "or did you just look that up after talking with Joannie about Miley?"

"Guilty as charged," he grinned, raising his hands in mock surrender. "I just found it interesting that she didn't seem to remember all the time you two spent together and decided to do a little digging. All real amnesias seem to stem from some sort of trauma, physical or emotional, but I'm still looking into it. The death of her mother certainly could have done something like that, but it still seems a bit odd that she doesn't remember anything about you."

"Yeah, well, maybe one of these days," Lilly shrugged. "In the meantime, I'm perfectly content trying to be friends with her again," she said as she turned back and once again started making tick marks on the inventory sheet.

"And one of these days maybe more?" She could hear the smirk on his lips without even turning around.

"That's what dreams are for," she sighed, but it wasn't anywhere near the same depth of sadness that she'd shown when he first entered the room.

"By the way, since the doctor released my dad to resume work I'll be back in school on Monday," he smiled while turning to leave, understanding that she had to get back to work. "I'll see you there?"

"Not if I see you first," she replied with a real grin of her own at the old saw.

Oliver waved as he left the storage room figuring he'd done what he came in to do in the first place. Lilly's mind wasn't on homophobes like Jeb anymore. She was even humming a soft tune beneath her breath. "You're just too nice a guy, Oken," he smiled to himself as he headed back out to the aisles to pick up the things his mom had sent him there to get in the first place.

-oo-

Lilly was feeling a little bit better by the time she got home from work that night. Old Jeb's bigotry and prejudice had largely been offset by Oliver's kind words and support. But the pain of rejection is like a deep, aching wound that is constantly getting the scab scraped off every time she heard that kind of talk or when she was bullied by her peers. After the first time she was rejected when she came out, her mother had told her that she shouldn't care about what some folks say. The only people whose opinions she should care about are those of people that she respects, and anyone that didn't accept her for who she was didn't deserve her respect. Lilly knew it was true, but that didn't mean that the constant rejection didn't hurt. A lot.

It was on evenings like this, when she was down but not out, that she would pull out her old and beat up electric guitar, plug in both the amp and the headphones, and play song after song until she fell asleep. And on this melancholy night, when the sound of both the hurtful words as well as the kind words of her oldest and dearest friend kept revolving through her head, the songs she sang were those that would help her through and reaffirm her acceptance of who she really was. As her spirits slowly lifted so did the kinds of songs she played. "Who I Am" by Jessica Andrews became "Yes I Am" by Radiohead followed by "It's Your Life" by Francesca Battistelli. "I Will Not Be Moved" by Natalie Grant turned into "Higher" by Creed which turned into Rascal Flatts' "Stand." And, as always, when her mood had lightened enough, she half-laughed and half-sang Katy's "I Kissed a Girl." But no matter what her mood, no matter how sleepy she might be, she always ended her solo jam session with the same song.

That night, as Lilly finally closed her eyes to sleep, she had at least a small smile on her face along with hopes of more dreams surrounding a certain brown haired girl.

-oo-

"That's a bogus call Blue! She was safe by a mile!" Lilly screamed at the umpire from inside the dugout. Joannie's fingers had clearly caught the corner of home plate just before the opposing team's catcher's glove slapped her shoulder as the dark blonde girl slid across the front of the plate.

It was the second game of a double-header that had started at the ungodly hour of eight in the morning. That meant that Lilly had to be awake, dressed, and at the field by seven-thirty for warm-ups. She at least got two of the three accomplished. She didn't really begin to wake up until she started her warm-up pitches just before the start of the first inning. Now, nearing noon and in the bottom of the fifth, Lilly's screams at the umpire went completely unheeded with the Cougars up eight to one. The game was going to end after this inning anyway through imposition of the Mercy Rule.

But Joannie was trying to get a softball scholarship to UTK and every stat helped. Her coach, Wynona Jefferson, must have been thinking the exact same thing because she screamed out to Joannie to not move a muscle, "don't even twitch a finger" as she ran out to get into the ump's face. The older woman even squatted down and pointed out the track of dirt left by Joannie's fingers as it trailed over the plate's corner and right to where her fingers were lying in the dirt.

"You going to cost this girl her scholarship because you're too prideful to admit you made a mistake," she yelled at him.

"Fine!" the blue yelled. "Run scores! That's game!" he yelled out and then stomped off the field in a huff of indignation to the sound of cheers from the home crowd and jeers from the sprinkling of visitors.

"You coming to DQ to celebrate with the rest of us?" the widely grinning Joannie asked as both she and Lilly started putting their bags together.

"Yeah, but only for a bit," the green-eyed girl smiled back. "I have to work this afternoon and then there's something on TV tonight that I want to watch."

"Ooohh, someone's going to be watching the Hannah Montana concert?" Joannie sing-songed teasingly.

"What can I say," Lilly shrugged and grinned. "It may not be my usual style, but her music's not too bad."

"And that shapely blonde body decked out in skin-tight leather pants ain't all that bad either, hmm?" the dark blonde girl chuckled.

"Nope, can't say I disagree with you there," Lilly laughed.

"Ah, I'm gonna tell Miley," Joannie smirked.

"Feel free," Lilly laughed again. "Won't hurt me a bit. In fact, it might even help."

The totally confused look on Joannie's face was priceless.

The celebration of winning the double-header was as raucous as twelve girls ranging in age from fourteen to eighteen could make it. Even before Lilly had to leave to head to work the manager of the DQ was throwing them out the front door "until you can act like ladies again," he'd screamed.

"We're not ladies," all twelve girls yelled back at him in chorus, "we're athletes!"

"Obviously," the manager had yelled back, but there'd been a wicked smile on his face, "cause you're worse than the guys!"

The members of the team had laughingly gone their separate ways with Lilly heading off to work with a promise from Joannie that she'd be by later that evening so that the two of them could watch the concert together.

"Okay, I'll admit, she's both gorgeous and sexy," Joannie sighed as she watched the singer with long blonde hair dance around on stage, her hips wiggling seductively and one arm in the air.

Lilly certainly wasn't going to argue with the other girl's comment. At the time, Hannah was wearing skin-tight black leather shorts that showed just how well toned her legs were, a black leather vest that was unfortunately too tight to truly show off her assets, black knee-high boots with four inch heels, and a smile that was brighter than the stage lights. The only good thing about the vest was that it provided Lilly with the sight of the gloriously glistening skin of Hannah's arms and chest. More than once she'd found herself licking her lips and wondering what that skin and sweat would taste like on her tongue.

She caught her best friend glancing at the juncture of her legs once too often and had to ask, "What are you looking at?"

"I'm just waiting to see how long it takes for the dampness in your crotch to show through those jeans," Joannie smirked evilly.

Of course, Lilly couldn't let that go and had the perfect reply. She grabbed hold of Joannie's hand and slowly started to draw it towards her (okay, she admitted it) more than damp crotch. She'd worn dark jeans that night for a reason. "Why don't you just find out for yourself?" she offered with a leer and in her deepest, sexiest voice. Joannie's reaction, while totally expected, was even better than Lilly could have hoped for. The dark blonde squealed in protest, snatching her hand back and nearly climbing over the back of the sofa to get away, but her eyes were slightly glazed and a deep flush of rose graced her cheeks even while her suddenly plump red lips panted out her denials.

"If you don't want to know the answer," Lilly laughed.

"Don't ask the question," Joannie pouted as she slowly found her seat again next to her friend. She then leaned over, laid her head on the blonde's shoulder, and re-grasped her hand and entwined their fingers. There was absolutely nothing sexual in their position. It was simply two best friends comfortably enjoying time with each other. They may tease each other unmercifully, but in the end they knew that they had each other's back.

"By the way," her friend smiled, "not that I'm not enjoying this, but how come you aren't over at Miley's watching the concert on some giant screen TV?"

Lilly had to grin as she remembered just how apologetic the brunette had been on the phone the previous evening when she'd told her she couldn't make it to the games that morning. "She…I think her dad has some kind of meeting with some bigwigs in the record business and she decided to go with him."

"Nashville?"

"No," Lilly smiled again. "Chicago."

"Yeah?" Joannie perked up, raising her head to stare at the small screen as if to see if she could spot their friend. "Maybe she's at the concert!"

Lilly's grin broadened as the camera moved in for a close up of the blonde songstress as she belted out the words to another one of her hit songs. "Oh, I'm pretty sure she's there somewhere."

-oo-

"How was your trip?" Lilly asked Miley the next evening when the brunette had given her a call shortly after she'd returned home.

"Tiring," Miley replied with a sigh and then smiled, "but nice. I got to see some old friends."

"Still, I bet it's nice to get back home and to the folks around here."

"Yeah, it is," Miley's grin widened, the effect coming clearly through the phone. "It's always nice to come home to a place where everyone knows who you are and loves you anyway," she giggled.

"More than you know," Lilly sighed softly.

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

"Nothing," Lilly grinned. "I'm just glad to hear your voice."

"Same here," Miley grinned back. "It's nice to hear your voice too, Lils," she whispered softly.

* * *

A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone taking the time to read this little offering and especially to those that reviewed/favorited/alerted the story. Please keep those reviews coming. They are my lifeblood! :-)

And to Call Me Red, this chapter probably answered your question. Sorry, no futa here ;-)

Thanks again and take care,

CX


	5. Chapter 5

_Monday, April 20, 2009_

"Please tell me we're not going to do this," Lilly whined over the phone a little over a week after Miley returned from her trip only to hear a certain brunette's infectious laughter coming from the other end of the line. She and Miley had been getting even closer over the past week and Lilly couldn't have been more thrilled to have the girl she loved back in her life, even if Miley didn't truly know how Lilly felt about her.

"Hey, you promised," Miley teased.

"I did _not_ promise. It was you and Joannie that were doing all the talking." Lilly chuckled. The three girls had gotten together again after school on Monday and Joannie had gotten to talking about the way that she and Lilly had teased each other during the concert. That had, of course, led to Lilly further teasing her friend by going into 'sexy' mode with her voice and getting the dark blonde all hot and bothered. At which point Miley had remembered that Lilly owed her a certain kind of phone call and had demanded that it be done that night.

"Fine," Miley smirked, "consider it a dare."

"Oh, you really don't want to go there," Lilly grinned maliciously. She really didn't usually turn down a dare unless it was dangerous, someone could get hurt, was just plain stupid, or some combination of the three.

"I. Dare. You," Miley said softly, but with a hint of a bite.

The blonde sighed. "Remember. You asked for it, but only until you're wet," she snickered.

"Like that's really going to happen," Miley laughed.

"We'll see, darlin'," the blonde chuckled. When Lilly next spoke her voice had dropped down half an octave and turned sultry and sexy. "What are you wearing tonight darlin'?"

Miley giggled, partially at the trite and obvious question and partly to hide the shiver that had run down her spine just at the sound of that voice. "Um, a pair of black cotton boy shorts and a white cotton tank," she replied in an innocent voice, playing along and starting to get into it.

"Hmm, sounds sexy," Lilly drawled. "I'm laying here in a pair of boxers and a wife-beater myself," she said in a husky voice. "Just thinking about you in that outfit I can already feel my nipples hardening." A low giggle that sounded a lot more like a moan came from the phone's small speaker and she grinned. "Can you feel it Miley? Can you feel the electricity? The heat growing?"

"Uuuuh," Miley moaned again and Lilly had to stifle a laugh.

On her end of the line, Miley certainly _could_ feel the electricity and heat building in her nether regions just listening to Lilly's voice. Her phone was propped between her shoulder and her ear and her fingers were grasping tightly to the sheets of her bed to keep them from moving to the places she _really_ wanted them to be.

"Can you feel my tongue as it slowly draws a line from your ear, down your shapely, tender jawline and then down further to your sensitive neck? Can you feel my hot lips as they kiss and nip their way to your collarbone, each nip soothed by my soft, hot tongue?"

"Aaaahh!" Miley groaned as she really could seem to feel Lilly's tongue doing wonderful things to her.

"Can you feel my hands as they slide up your sides to gently touch just the sides of your breasts? I'm still on the outside of your shirt, but you desperately want me to be touching your hot, sensitive skin." Lilly really couldn't believe that she was doing this. Was it really just a couple of weeks since the two girls had become friends again? Did she really need to be doing this right now?

Somehow Miley's left hand had slipped its grasp of the sheets and was lying against her stomach, now grasping at her thin white tank to keep it in place. "You're…you're so… not…fair…Lilly," she gasped.

_I guess that answers my question_, the green-eyed girl thought to herself with a grin. Miley sure seemed to be enjoying herself, so why not? Lilly chuckled again in that low sexy voice that sent another charge of electricity straight to Miley's core and her left hand released the fabric of her shirt to slide beneath it and touch the hot skin of her stomach.

"Dares aren't always fair sweetlips," Lilly laughed softly. "My hand is now beneath your shirt, just resting on your stomach, but my finger is playing with your bellybutton as my mouth continues to explore your neck and shoulders. It's nice you're wearing a tank, it gives me so much more access to your soft, sensitive, hot skin."

"Oh god," Miley moaned again, unable to believe what that voice was doing to her. Her own finger started playing with her bellybutton just as Lilly had mentioned, her finger sliding in and out and around and her abs tightening.

"But we're not going to rush this, oh no siree. No, we're going to take this nice and slow," she whispered.

"Nooo. P-p-p," Miley stammered and Lilly had to bite her lip to keep from moaning herself as her own hand found its way to the taught nub of her left breast.

"'Please?' Is that what you're asking Miley?"

"Y-y-yeess."

"Are you sure?"

"P-please, Lilly."

"Now my hand is moving further down your stomach over top of your boy shorts," she purred, hearing another moan over the phone. "Further and further, ever so slowly, your quivering now with desire. Are you there yet? Your fingers are between your legs now. Can you feel how wet you are?"

"Y-yes."

"I win," Lilly chuckled lowly only to hear a sound of exasperation from the tiny speaker. "Shall I keep going?"

"P-please," Miley begged.

"You're sure? You're not going to be totally embarrassed when you see me in the morning?"

"P-probably," Miley admitted, "but please don't s-stop."

"You're so wet and hot," the blonde growled low, "and that little bud has gotten sooo hard. Touch it," Lilly commanded the blue-eyed girl.

"Oh god!" Miley nearly screamed.

"Not yet darlin'," Lilly told her. "I'm moving my hand back up and slipping my fingers inside your pants. Follow me darlin'. My hand and yours are both moving back down again. Slowly. Do you shave?"

"Y-yes," Miley groaned, her mind so fuzzed with desire that she didn't even think about what she was saying.

"So there's nothing between those tingling fingers and that hot, hot skin. Your hand is moving further down to that slippery place. How wet are you Miley?"

"God! I'm so wet!"

"And hot. So hot," Lilly growled again as her own fingers felt just how wet she herself was beneath her boxers. "And so slick. Your finger just slides right down to your center, to that place that is begging to be filled. Your thumb is circling that hard little button of yours. Can you feel it? Can you feel how much you want me?"

"I want you so bad Lilly," the brunette confessed. "Please!"

"A finger slips ever so gently inside you," Lilly told her, practicing what she was preaching as she felt a finger enter her essence. "Tell me what it feels like Miley."

"I-it's so hot, and slick, and tight…so hot."

"The finger slides even further inside you, filling you up, but not enough. Another finger joins the first."

"Yeeessss," Miley groaned.

"That thumb is going again and again, circling and flicking your nub while the fingers move in and out. Feel it Miley. Faster," she moaned as her own hand moved faster and deeper inside her. "Faster. Faster and deeper. Feel it Miley."

"Oh…Oh!"

"You're almost there love. Almost. So I kiss you. My tongue slides right between your lips to taste that sweet honey." Miley was panting loudly and quickly now, unable even to moan it felt so good. And Lilly was right there with her. Ready. "I dive in deeper to taste all of you, and those fingers are going faster and faster, deeper and deeper, and that thumb's pressing harder and harder…and…and…and"

Both girls screamed out at the same time as their release came simultaneously.

Only heavy panting and low moans crossed the phone lines for the next few minutes as the two girls came down from their high and regained what was left of their senses.

"Y-you…you are dangerous Lilly Truscott…you know that?" Miley moaned softly.

"Yeah," Lilly grinned. "Just imagine what it would have been like if I'd really been there."

"Oh god!" Miley groaned as Lilly chuckled.

-oo-

Tuesday morning both girls blushed a bright red when they met even though they didn't say a word to each other in the parking lot.

Joannie, noticing their joint embarrassment, laughed her head off. "I warned you, didn't I?" she asked the pretty brunette whose face turned an even darker shade of crimson.

"Yeah, you warned me," Miley groused in a seemingly angry voice until she looked up at the face of an extremely worried Lilly. She smiled at the green-eyed girl. "But I wouldn't trade it for anything," she admitted shyly.

"And I thought Lilly was whipped!" Joannie brayed loudly.

Lilly blushed harder and hit her best friend in the arm, causing Joannie to yelp while Miley looked on.

"Huh? I don't understand," Miley said, confused now in addition to being highly embarrassed, "we were just having some fun. It didn't mean anything."

She'd been looking at Joannie at the time so she didn't see her new friend freeze for a moment, or the brief flash of harsh pain in Lilly's eyes before she completely closed off.

"Right," Lilly said with no emotion whatsoever, "it didn't mean anything." At that she turned on her heel and strode quickly to the school and through the door, leaving her best friend and the girl she loved in her wake; one of them worriedly wondering what she'd said wrong.

Joannie was furious, but she knew that Lilly wouldn't be happy if she said anything to let Miley know how the blonde really felt about her, so she said the only thing she could.

"Let me warn you about something else, Stewart," she said through clenched teeth. "That's two strikes. If you hurt her again, I'll make you wish you'd never come back to Crowley Corners." With that she turned and ran after her best friend in the world, leaving a shocked and confused girl behind her.

"What did I say?!" Miley yelled after Joannie but got no response as the girl dashed through the school's doors. "It didn't mean anything…did it?" she whispered to herself.

Had she hurt Lilly with what she'd said? And what did Joannie mean about two strikes? If this was one, what was the other one? The first one? How had she hurt Lilly before? She shook her head, unable to comprehend what was going on, and made her way worriedly into the school.

Lilly wasn't in class and Joannie had quite purposely and pointedly taken a seat as far away from Miley as she could manage. When she tried to catch up with the dark blonde girl at lunch Joannie just flashed her a hand and turned in another direction to sit with the rest of the softball team. Miley held her tray and looked around the room for another friendly face, any friendly face, with which to sit. Amber and Ashley were out, as were any of the kids she'd hung out with while she'd been dating Jake. As far as she was concerned they were all bullies and she wanted nothing to do with them. Miley eventually saw Oliver Oken sitting by himself in a corner away from everyone else so she turned and walked over to his table and set her tray down.

"Do you mind if I eat with you today Oliver?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Sure, Miley," the boy smiled up at her. "Pull up a chair!"

Miley sat and started picking at her food, not really hungry even when she'd bought it, but getting it more out of habit and to have something to play with. "Oliver," she sighed, "can you tell me something?"

"I can try," he replied with a touch of concern at the sound of melancholy in her voice.

"Did…did I hurt Lilly sometime in the past?"

Oliver put down the burger he'd been eating and turned to look at the sad face next to him. "You mean like when you left town without saying anything?" he said. "You know, she was totally bummed for months. I thought the two of you were tight back then, but the next thing we knew you and your dad were off to California. And then you came back but acted like you didn't even recognize her, so she was pretty well bummed out again, but she figured it was because you didn't want to be seen around a lesbian so she understood."

"What!? I'd never do that to her!"

"Uh, Miley," he pointed a fork at her, "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but yeah, you did. You might not have thought about it, but that's what happened."

"I didn't know," Miley whined softly. "I mean, I didn't even really remember her from before."

"Harsh, Stewart. That's really harsh. You were her best friend back before your mom died. At least that's what Lilly thought. Then you stopped coming around and then just up and moved away without telling anyone. She thought you didn't like her anymore and had abandoned her. It's a small town and with even fewer kids. How could you have not remembered her?"

"I don't know," Miley sighed. "My daddy thinks that maybe I connected her with my mom, and when she died I didn't want anything to remind me of her death."

"I guess I can see that. I've been taking some online psych courses to get ready for college, and I can definitely understand a person wanting to try to forget things that reminded her of a painful memory."

"It still doesn't make it right," Miley said softly as she pushed the food on her plate around some more.

"The mind doesn't think of it that way. Nor does it always consider the potential consequences," he advised her softly

"So I hurt her, twice already," Miley admitted to herself as a tear slipped down her cheek at the thought that she'd hurt someone she'd once cared for, and if she was honest with herself, still did. A lot. "Maybe I've already had my third strike."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," the blue-eyed girl wept silently.

"Miley," Oliver spoke quietly, reaching out to take her by the hand. "I don't know what's going on or what may have happened, and maybe I shouldn't be saying anything, but if you care about Lilly, I mean really care about her, then you'll do what you need to do to make things right. You always have. That's one of the reasons we love you so much."

"I'm beginning to think maybe you all put too much faith in me. I'm not some angel. I make mistakes. Just look at how Jake fooled me for so long."

"Yeah, well, he's an ass. Always has been, but he puts up a good act. You, on the other hand, have always been honest about your feelings. Everyone knows where you stand. You're a good person. Lilly knows that."

"I'm not feeling like a good person right now, Oliver," the blue-eyed girl said softly. "I think I hurt someone I care for. Really hurt her, and I don't know why or how."

"If you think about it, and are honest with yourself, I'm pretty sure you'll figure out the why and how, Miley," he smiled and squeezed her hand. "Then all you have to do is figure out how to fix it. If I can help in any way, you know you can always call on me."

"Thanks Oliver," she told him with a sad smile, squeezing his hand as well. "You've always been a good friend, even if I haven't always been a good friend back. If there's anything I can do for you as well…"

"Um, well," the boy grinned shyly, "do you think you could put in a good word for me with Sarah?"

"Saint Sarah!" Miley laughed softly in surprise and wiping the tears from her eyes. "You've got a thing for the glasses girl?"

"Yeah," Oliver said while ducking his head in embarrassment. "I kind of like her."

Miley reached over and mussed his hair before wiping her now oily hand on her pants. "Eeww. Then I suggest you stop with the oily hair gel," she grinned. "Sarah hates petroleum based products."

"Oh yeah?" Oliver exclaimed softly as he ran his hand through his hair. "Ugh. Yeah, I guess I can see that," he grimaced at his slick and oily hand.

-oo-

Lilly had run straight through the school and out the back door into the woods. She'd heard Joannie calling after her, but couldn't bring herself to stop. The pain was too great and her heart was pounding too hard.

_It didn't mean anything. It didn't mean anything_ kept echoing through her thoughts like a broken record, blasting her with her own stupidity for thinking that Miley might actually feel something for her. Like _anyone_ could actually feel something for her. All it was was a little frivolous phone sex. Nothing more. Just a little harmless fun. _It didn't mean anything. _What was there to be hurt about?

But it did hurt. It hurt so bad she could barely catch her breath her chest was in so much pain. All she could do was run, to put as much distance between herself and the girl she loved and who she thought might at least care for her a little bit. But obviously even that was asking too much.

So she ran and she ran until she could run no more…and then she continued on, pushing through both the physical and emotional pain until she collapsed in a heap somewhere deep in the woods where no one could hear her screams of anguish. Birds and animals fled at the sound of her cries, sure that some animal was dying. And they weren't all that far off in their instincts, for surely no life could withstand the crushing pain that she was feeling.

_Alone. _

Once again she was all alone with no one to hold her or comfort her as her heart was shattered into a million pieces for the second time in her short life. Earlier, when Miley had first left her, her mother hadn't been able to understand why it would hurt so badly so she'd cried alone in her room. Now the trees were the only ones left to hear her screams and cries and sobs and weeping until she thought she was all cried out.

After that she wandered in a daze, not knowing or caring where she was going until she crested a small rise and saw the old VFW Little League ball field stretched out before her past the edge of the woods. She slowly made her way down the hill to the gravel parking lot and eventually into the tiny dugout for the visiting team and took a seat on the warped and splintered wooden bench.

"What did I really expect?" she asked herself, laughing through the tears she had thought were all dried up. "Of course it wouldn't mean anything to her! I'm just the town lez. Not someone that anyone might actually care about, let alone consider as more than just a friend. Heck, I don't even have any friends! Only Joannie and Oliver. That's all. I'm surprised even they still talk to me. Joannie's got Todd now and Oli…well, he's Oliver. 'Nuff said," she snorted, before the sobs took her again and she cradled her face in her hands as the sounds of her crying spread across the weed-choked field.

The sun had long passed the noon hour by the time she got back to the school parking lot. She dug her keys out of her front pocket, started up the pickup and peeled out of the parking lot once again not caring where she was going, just wanting to get away.

She eventually found herself at the Southern States. A semi was delivering a load of fertilizer so she grabbed her work gloves from the dash and started to help unload and stack the bags. Ed noticed her of course and was about to ask her what she thought she was doing when she ought to be in school, but when he saw her tear streaked face he thought better of it. He'd worked through many a hard time himself, throwing himself into the backbreaking effort just to try to get his mind off his troubles. He could see that was exactly where the teen was herself so he let her be.

Lilly worked throughout the afternoon, hefting and tossing, moving and shoving and stacking, anything to keep her mind off of a certain pretty brunette. She worked all through dinner until she was surprised by a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Go home Lilly," Ed told her softly. "Get some food and some rest. It'll be better in the morning, I promise."

"Don't go promising things, Ed," she sighed sadly, feeling the moisture building once again behind her eyes. "The only thing promises are for is breaking. They promise you that they'll always be there, that they'll always be your friend, but then they run off without a word. No one sees. No one cares," she sniffed and used her filthy gloves to wipe her nose and eyes before she started leaking again. "_It doesn't mean anything!_ N-no…no one…" she sobbed, "no one…" she couldn't bring herself to say it, so she broke down on his shoulder instead, her tears and her snot dirtying his already filthy and sweaty shirt, but he just held her tightly and let her cry, patting her back.

"We care Lillian," he whispered to her which only caused her to cry all the harder. "We care."

-oo-

Joannie was sitting on the front porch of her house when she pulled her truck up to the curb. Lilly sat there for a few minutes, just watching her friend, but Joannie made no move to get up. She just sat there, seeming to be happy just to wait until Lilly was ready, so the blonde slowly got out of her truck, locked it and made her way up the walk to take a seat beside her best friend. They sat there together, silent, for over ten minutes before Joannie spoke slowly and softly.

"I nearly punched her in the nose, but I knew you'd get mad at me."

"It wouldn't have made any difference anyway," Lilly sighed and put her arm around the other girl to pull her into a rough hug. "And you're right. I'd have gotten mad…but I appreciate the sentiments."

"She was crying at lunch. She sat with Oliver when I pushed her away. I was still too angry to deal with her. I know they talked, but I don't know what about. I did see the tears though."

"Yeah, well, there were a lot of those to go around."

"Where'd you go? I had to do a little quick tap dancing to keep Kunkle and Lugar from calling your mom. I told them you'd gotten your period and had forgotten any pads."

Lilly chuckled at that. No one wanted to talk about girls' periods, even other women if they could avoid it. "Thanks. As to where I went…first I just ran. I ended up at the old VFW ball field and sat there for a while, then just went to work. My arms and legs are killing me, but it feels kind of good as well. I don't think I've ever worked that hard before in my life."

"Something you can do while just turning off your mind. I know what you mean," Joannie sighed. "I did four circuits of weights at the gym one time when Todd did something that really pissed me off."

"What'd he do?"

"Uh, well," Joannie blushed, "he uh, asked for, um…"

Lilly laughed, really laughed for the first time that day.

"Girl, you've really got to get over your fear of blowjobs."

"Shut uuuup," the dark blonde whined cutely. "It's just so gross!"

"Not to them," Lilly laughed. "And if you think it's gross, just how do you think they feel when you ask them to go down on you!"

"That's different!" Joannie squeaked, slapping her shoulder and then started laughing herself, "but I guess I can see what you mean." She got quiet again before she asked, "So, did you really have phone sex with Miley last night?"

"Yeah," Lilly grinned and then sighed.

"Did you get her off?" Joannie smirked.

"We both got off," Lilly confessed as she felt her neck and ears burning.

"Damn girl!" her friend laughed, then got quiet again. "I know she cares for you. She really does. It's just that she's never thought of you in that way."

"I kind of guessed that," the green-eyed girl said sadly. "It's just so hard…loving someone you know will never love you the same way," she sniffed and used her sleeve to wipe her nose.

"Just because she hasn't thought of you in that way before, that doesn't mean she never will," Joannie tried to reassure her friend.

"Thanks, but I think it's time to face facts. She might be a friend, but she'll never be a girlfriend. At least not mine."

"You don't know that for sure."

"Maybe not…but it's safer for my heart if I think that way." She stood up, groaning as her muscles told her off about working them so hard.

"You all right?" Joannie asked worriedly as she stood up as well.

"Just dehydrated. I think I cried or sweated off ten pounds of water weight today," Lilly laughed sadly. She turned and took her friend in her arms. "Thanks for being there for me."

"I'll always be there for you." She didn't see Lilly cringe at her words, the same words Miley had told her so many years ago.

"Thanks," Lilly told her with one more squeeze before letting her go. "I'd better get inside and get something to drink before I go to bed or I'll be cramping all night."

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'm…not sure yet," the blonde sighed. "I might be sick again, if you know what I mean. Then I've got to work again and then I think I'll hit the batting cage for a bit, but call me."

"I will," Joannie reached out and took her by the hand as her friend turned toward her door. "It'll get better. I promise."

"Yeah, promises, promises," Lilly laughed quietly before going inside and closing the door behind her, leaving a worried friend on her front porch.


	6. Chapter 6

_Monday, April 20, 2009 and Tuesday, April 21, 2009_

"It can't be tomorrow, Daddy!" Miley exclaimed when her father told her that she had a gig at a small venue in Vegas that they needed to leave for.

"I'm sorry, bud," Robby Ray told her as he took in his daughter's distraught features, "but it's been on the calendar for two months. It's not a large place, and it's a one-night-only show, but it's Vegas! If you ditch it you can pretty much count on never playing anywhere in Nevada ever again. If Hannah doesn't show up you'll be blackballed in every casino on the strip. I knew a guy once…"

"Please," Miley held up a hand to forestall him, "not another story."

"Fine. Ask your Aunt Dolly if you don't believe me, but in the meantime you better get your Hannah gear together. We've got to be on the plane in just over three hours."

"But Daddy!" Miley whined.

"Whatever it is it's going to have to wait, hun," he told her sympathetically.

"I don't know if it can," the brunette said softly to herself.

She'd missed seeing Lilly all day. She'd never come back to school and had even skipped softball practice. The coach hadn't heard anything from her either but wasn't overly worried. Miley learned that Lilly usually missed practice at least once every couple of weeks for various reasons, so it didn't really come as a surprise. Miley had gone so far as to look up her house in the phone book but her truck hadn't been there either.

"I should have tried her at work," Miley berated herself soundly.

"Something happen at school?" Robby asked her as he followed her up to her room.

"I think I had a fight with someone," Miley answered sadly, "maybe."

"Wouldn't you know if you'd fought with someone," her father asked, perplexed.

"It wasn't that kind of a fight," she sighed as she opened the hidden door in her bedroom and walked into her 'Hannah Closet.' "I said something that might have been real hurtful to someone I think I care a lot about."

"'You think?' 'Might have?' 'Maybe'?"

"It's…complicated," Miley told him in a soft voice. After spending time at lunch talking to Oliver, she'd spent pretty much the rest of the day thinking about everything that had been said that morning. And, being honest with herself as Oliver had suggested, she'd finally admitted that last night's telephone talk had meant a lot more to her than she'd allowed herself to consider. With that realization, along with her still fledgling relationship with Lilly and her own inability to remember their past relationship, the blonde's reaction to her unkind words became a lot more clear and understandable. It was killing her to think that she'd hurt her newest friend so badly.

"Does it have anything to do with Lilly Truscott?" her father asked quietly, following her into the closet.

"Yeah. We…" she stopped. There was no way she could tell her father that she'd had phone sex…with another girl! "I mean, something happened that I think may have meant a lot more to her than I'd originally thought. Then I went and flapped my big 'ol gums and said that it didn't mean anything to me."

"Ouch!" Robby winced.

"Yeah, like that," Miley sniffed and took a seat on one of the pink plush upholstered chairs. "And the real stupid thing about it was…it really _did_ mean a lot to me. I just couldn't handle it at the time and said the first thing that popped into my teeny weeny little brain. I tried all day to find her, but couldn't. I wanted to find her and try to explain it all properly, but…"

"But Hannah's already booked for tomorrow night," Robby nodded knowingly. "You'll be back in school no later than Thursday," he offered but his daughter just shook her head. "Then what about calling her?"

"Even if she were willing to answer the phone when she saw it was me calling, it's not really something I can tell her over the phone," the blue-eyed girl murmured, her chin resting on her chest.

Robby knelt down in front of his daughter and gently took her small hands within his much larger ones. "If it's that important I can call the guys and get them to schedule a later departure. You could go over to her house to see her."

Miley's eyes widened at this selfless offer but then she shook her head. "It's too late now. It's almost eight."

"We don't have to be at the theatre until noon tomorrow. If you don't mind sleeping on the plane I can try to get the pilot to schedule a takeoff sometime after midnight."

"Could you?" Miley asked, the light of hope once again glimmering in her eyes.

"Let me make the call. In the meantime, try to get as much packed as you can," he smiled at her, glad to see that spark returning.

"Okay!" Miley smiled broadly and jumped up to start her packing.

Robby chuckled as he left to head to his study and make the call to the airport.

"I wonder if she knows?" he laughed lightly.

-oo-

"Lilly, sweetie, Miley's downstairs and wants to talk to you," Heather Truscott, Lilly's mother, called out to her daughter through her closed bedroom door.

It was nice that Miley had come to see her, but Lilly wasn't ready to talk to the dark haired girl quite yet. Instead of replying to her mother she just continued to lie on her bed in her darkened room, the same place she'd been since she'd walked in the door after leaving Joannie on the front porch. Although her mother had offered her some dinner, she'd simply grabbed a bottle of sports drink and headed to her room. Now the only noise emanating from behind her closed door was the sound of her CD player turned down low.

"Lilly? Lilly, please honey," her mother called again before giving up. Whether her mother thought she was awake or asleep was of no consequence. All that mattered was that one Miley Stewart leave her alone long enough for her to rebuild the walls around her heart that the brunette had torn down so thoroughly in just a couple of weeks.

She'd been stupid. They'd been getting along so well that she'd actually allowed herself to dream that there was a possibility for the two of them. That dream was now a small pile of ashes slowly being reduced by the breeze of reality.

_It didn't mean anything._

They say that the typical adult woman's body was made up of approximately fifty-five percent water. Whatever that worked out to for the sixteen years old Lilly, she was pretty sure she was down a couple of quarts with all the tears she'd wept. And they hadn't stopped when she'd gotten home. From the time she'd fallen to her bed until just a few minutes before her mother called out to her, she'd probably cried another pint's worth. At least it felt that way.

"Probably cried out everything I drank," Lilly sighed softly and turned over so that she could see the light of the moon shining in through her bedroom window. Down below her she heard the front door close and another sigh escaped her lips.

Lilly knew that Miley would be having to fly out tonight on the private jet they kept parked up at Nashville International Airport for her one-night-stand in Vegas. She'd been following 'Hannah's' career ever since she'd realized that the girl on her TV screen wasn't some hyped up teen idol, but was really the girl that had been her best friend from the time they'd been little kids. No long blonde wig could hide those eyes, those lips, that nose that she'd seen so frequently for so many years and had eventually come to love, even if she realized it only after the girl of her dreams had up and skedaddled to the Left Coast without even saying goodbye.

It was only her friendships with Oliver and Joannie that had kept her going after that betrayal. Then, seeing that same girl on her TV screen, under the bright lights and on a stage in front of hundreds of Hollywood's elite, she'd come to realize just how much she not only missed Miley, but loved her as well. She'd tried to deny her feelings, thereby justifying dating a jerk like Jake Ryan for nearly two years, but every time she saw Miley up on stage at one concert or another those same feelings had boiled up in her chest until she simply couldn't deny them any longer.

Lilly had eventually broken it off with Jake and deflated his ego even further by coming out of the closet and telling everyone that she could only like girls. After that little Waterloo it was only Joannie and Oliver that stayed by her side.

And it had been those same two friends that had kept her going when Miley came back from California only a few months later. Lilly had been elated when she'd heard the news that her love was finally returning, but then Miley had gone and acted as if she'd never met Lilly before in her life. If that first betrayal had hurt, this second one had devastated her. It was only the love she shared with her mother and her two friends that kept her from doing something that she would have later regretted. If there had even been a later.

"LILLY TRUSCOTT," she heard a strident feminine voice yelling from her front lawn. "I'M SORRY FOR WHAT I SAID. I WAS LYING. IT DID MEAN SOMETHING TO ME, DAMMIT!"

"Miley Ray Stewart, you watch your language young lady," Lilly heard her mother's voice sounding somewhere between angry and amused beneath her window and couldn't help but giggle.

"I'm sorry Ms. Truscott, but I've just got to tell her," Miley said in only a slightly less voluble voice, but still projecting such that she would be sure Lilly could hear her. "I'm sorry, Lilly," she called out again. "I can't stay long. Daddy's waiting for me in the car, but I can't leave again without saying this. It did mean something to me, Lilly. I was just scared to admit it. I'll be back on Thursday and, if you're willing, I'd like to talk to you about it."

Lilly couldn't help but smile at the words she was hearing. Her heart started beating faster and she couldn't keep from grinning. She got up off her bed and moved to the window, throwing it open to the night sky, the cool wind, and the girl standing in her front yard staring up at her with eyes so blue and so sad that she just couldn't stay mad. Or sad. "When and where?" she yelled out, happy to see a smile break out on her love's face.

"Thursday, after your game, at my place," Miley replied with that wide smile that then turned a bit shy. "If you want, you can have dinner with Daddy and me."

Lilly thought about it a moment before responding. "Make it Friday," she yelled back. "I got to work after Thursday's game until nine."

"All right. Friday," Miley grinned from ear-to-ear. "It's a date."

"You wish," Lilly chuckled and even in the dark she could see the blush rising on Miley's cheeks.

-oo-

"Miley's out today?" Joannie asked as she took her normal seat beside Lilly the next morning.

"Yeah. I'm not sure, but I think she went with her father again on another trip," Lilly smiled.

"Chicago again?"

"No, not this time," Lilly grinned but no matter how much Joannie grilled her she wouldn't say where she thought the brunette had run off to.

It was a slow, quiet day without the head cheerleader there. Somehow when Miley was at school things just always seemed to be a bit more upbeat than when she was out. The junior wasn't absent all that frequently, but when she was it was usually for some trip with her father and she was typically out only for a day or two before she returned tired but also seemingly charged with an energy that just infused the entire school population.

The only real downer she'd had to deal with was the return to school of one Jake Ryan. He'd had his one week suspension extended an additional week for mouthing off at Principal Lugar for having been put on suspension in the first place. If anything had provided proof that Jake was the main instigator of all of the bullying she'd had to endure over the years it was the simple fact that during all of the time he'd been out no one had knocked her books out of her hands, pushed her into a locker, dropped food on her head, or committed any other of the dozens of ways she'd been bullied in the past. As far as Lilly was concerned that was more than enough proof to her and her friends that it was Jake that had been the ringleader of all of it all. Oliver, who shared the other junior class with the jerk, told her that it had been sooo nice not to have to put up with Jake's shenanigans after he'd finally come back to school after two months at home.

"You wouldn't believe how much he disrupts the class," the dark haired boy shook his head later that day as Lilly and her friends sat down to lunch in the school's cafeteria. "I swear I think we're more than a week behind you and Kunkle just because of his antics."

"I can't say I missed having him around," Joannie chimed in. "He's such an asshole."

"It was kind of nice not having to constantly be watching my back," Lilly grinned but then sighed. "Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end."

"Well," Oliver chuckled, "now that I'm back you won't have to be worrying as much." He lifted his arm and flexed his bicep which had grown appreciably since he'd been doing all of his father's work around the farm. Lilly laughed, reached over and squeezed the offered arm with her right hand until the boy winced with pain. "Okay, okay!" he whined. "Don't go breaking the merchandise." All three laughed.

The Crowley Cougars lost the softball game later that afternoon, but it wasn't by anywhere near as many runs as they had expected since they were going up against the perennial state champs. Work was also fairly quiet for a Tuesday afternoon and early evening. Both Ed and Tanya were in good moods and even Billy had a smile on his face. Given how great the day had been going it was only karma that things would seem to go downhill as Lilly headed home for the evening.

Bright headlights flashed in her rearview mirror as a truck pulled out of a side road just after she'd passed by. Lilly had always been a fast driver so it took more than a few seconds for the truck to catch up with her and get right on her rear bumper. Without taking her foot off the gas Lilly tapped the brake pedal just enough for the red of her taillights to illuminate what she'd been expecting to see.

Although neither Jake nor anyone in his crew had done anything to her either Monday or today she'd still seen the malice in his eyes as they seemed to follow her whenever the two were in the same area. Once he'd held up his right hand to show her the splints he had on his fingers and then pointed at her as if to say she'd be getting hers for hurting him. The fact that he'd broken his own fingers while trying to punch her never seemed to enter his mind. As far as he was concerned everything that had been going wrong in his life for the past few weeks was her fault and he intended to administer justice as he saw fit.

It was therefore no surprise at all when Lilly's taillights showed the custom aluminum grill of Jake's Ford pickup no more than inches behind her back bumper.

"You've got to be kidding," she laughed softly as she stepped down hard on the gas, "if you think that souped up piece of offal can catch me!" The growl of her exhaust note went from a purr to a scream as eight cylinders of hemispherical Detroit iron came to life. She easily pulled away from Jake's POS and left him in her dust. At least for a moment. Then she heard a high pitched whine coming up quickly from behind her and the bright lights were back in her rearview mirror just before her truck lurched forward as he rammed into her.

"Oh, so you actually added a turbo to that piece of crap?" she shook her head, unfazed at being rear-ended. Her truck had been through way worse than that little love tap. "Too bad it won't turn shit into gold. It's about time I see what these new tires will take," she grinned.

Lilly stepped down even harder on the gas, almost but not quite putting the pedal to the floorboards, and pulled away from her pursuer yet again. When she figured she was far enough ahead of him she started looking for the turn she knew should be just up the road. "There," she grinned, slammed on her brakes and threw the wheel hard over to take what looked like not much more than a game trail that cut off to her right but was, in actuality, just wide enough for a single truck to get by.

Jake's truck did a three-sixty when he slammed on his brakes, his head and tail lights spinning in her rearview mirror and bringing another feral grin to her lips until he lined up with the trail and started after her.

Lilly knew that even if their vehicles were equal power-wise, which they weren't, she had one significant advantage over Jake's truck. Hers was set up for off road four-wheeling while Jake's was strictly set up for street or strip. Of course, it _was_ a truck, but she nearly laughed her head off as she saw the sparks flying from beneath it as he bottomed out on ruts, bumps, tree roots and the occasional rock. "Ouch," she laughed as a particularly large spark leapt up behind Jake's truck as he ran over a small boulder that Lilly's pickup had passed over without incident "Hope that wasn't the oil pan!" she giggled.

Although she was having fun leading him on a merry chase she knew that she couldn't keep it up forever. The blonde girl was also sure that every nick and scratch Jake's truck accumulated would be added to the tally that he'd established for her. "Time to end this once and for all," she sighed as the two vehicles came flying out of the woods and into a corn field.

Lilly knew just about every inch of Perry County. Whether it was from making deliveries for her job or from helping others bring in their crops for either additional income or just to be neighborly, she felt more than confident of exactly where she was. She'd been in just about every field the county had to offer, including the field of corn on Mamaw Stewart's farm.

Once they'd cleared the woods Lilly had sent a prayer up to heaven along with an apology to Mamaw for trampling her corn and then pushed the pedal to the floor. Jake was still on her tail even if he was falling further behind with every second that passed. However, her plan would only work if he was right on her tail when she made her move so she lifted her right foot a touch and watched as his headlights once again began to grow closer.

Then, as soon as she passed Mamaw's scarecrow she turned her front wheels to the right just ever so slightly. Jake continued to follow in her wake for the next hundred yards or so until Lilly slammed on her brakes, took the hit on her rear bumper that she'd anticipated, and then cut right at a sharp angle.

In her rearview mirror she saw the hood of Jake's truck buckle as he ran into the rear of her truck and steam started coming from his busted radiator. Even with that damage she knew that with his ego he would be damned if he was going to 'let that bitch get away from him.' She could see his headlights further back and off to her left before he started angling in a direction he probably figured would cut her off.

Lilly couldn't stop laughing as she kept her wheels pointed as straight as she could. She watched as Jake's headlights started to catch up with her and shook her head. "You should've helped out on the farm a hell of a lot more, Jake," she cackled as she felt the front wheels of her truck start to rise, quickly followed by her rears.

-oo-

Jake stared in shock as Lilly's truck slowly rose through the corn like a breaching whale and then, at the last moment, seemed to take off like a rocket through the air. He swore he could hear the girl he loved to hate screaming with joy as her truck floated above the corn for the space of what had to be fifty feet before it arced back to the earth under the force of gravity.

"What the fuck?" he screamed as he watched the old and battered truck fly like an eagle through the night sky. Then came the pure and unadulterated terror as he remembered just exactly why Lilly would want to be flying at that particular moment and at that particular place. That realization came just a hair too late for him to slam on his brakes to avoid the crash as the front of his truck suddenly dropped. He actually did fly, very briefly, before the front of his truck plowed into the high ridge of dirt bordering the creek that ran through Mamaw Stewart's corn field on its way to the Tennessee River. The only thing that saved him was the airbag that deployed from his steering column as the entire front of his recently modified truck crumpled like a piece of tinfoil. He didn't remember much else after that.

-oo-

Lilly was still laughing as she slowed down and quickly found her way over to the dirt road bordering the field. As soon as it was safe she pulled out her cell phone and placed two quick calls. The first was to Eli to let him know that he had another truck to pick up and tow back into town. The second call was to Sheriff Duffy to let him know what had happened and where he could find the perpetrator of the damage to the rear end of her truck.

"If I remember rightly, Jake's truck has a custom paint job, doesn't it?" the Sheriff chuckled. "Getting a paint match from the front of his truck and your bumper shouldn't be all that difficult," he laughed.

"I'll be at Mamaw's place apologizing for driving through her field when you get here Sheriff," Lilly replied with a laugh of her own.

-oo-

Jake spent a week in the hospital and then was promptly shipped off to an all boys' school in Kentucky to finish out his high school career. When his father had been presented with Lilly's written testimony and the Sheriff's evidence, Mayor Ryan had immediately picked up the phone and worked out a deal with Heather Truscott that kept his boy out of jail and Lilly free from further bullying, at least from Jake. Amber and Ashley were still there in school of course, but with Miley watching them closely and the threat of being thrown off the cheer squad hanging over their heads even those two could read the writing on the wall and kept their hands off of the town lesbian.

If only everyone would do the same, the blonde girl might actually have a chance at a relatively happy existence in Crowley Corners.


	7. Chapter 7

_Friday, April 24, 2009 through Saturday, April 25, 2009_

Lilly hadn't bothered asking what had taken Miley out of school for two days. Although she already knew the answer she didn't feel it was the right time yet to let that secret out. Instead she'd arrived at the Stewart place after putting in only a couple of hours down at the Southern States and then rushing home to shower and change into something she thought was a bit more appropriate. It was really only a pair of relatively new washed denim jeans, a light green, button down long sleeved shirt that her mother always told her brought out the green of her eyes, and a pair of brown cowboy boots, but at least the clothes were clean and the boots shined as best she could with the old leather.

Miley and Robbie Ray had met her at the door with wide smiles, even if Miley's was a bit shy and probably reflected the nervousness that Lilly herself was feeling.

"Dinner will be ready at seven girls," Mr. Stewart had told the two of them after he'd reintroduced himself to the blonde he hadn't seen for seven years. "I hope you like barbecue, Lilly," he grinned.

"Do Volunteers eat Gator meat for breakfast?" Lilly replied with a wide smile while she rubbed her tummy. Thoughts of food always seemed to settle her down, and Robbie Ray's welcoming attitude had always seemed to set her mind at ease.

"I like a girl who's got her loyalties straight," Robbie laughed before turning and heading back toward the kitchen. "Feel free to give Lilly a tour of the new place, bud," he offered his daughter. "That is, of course," he turned back and gave his blue-eyed daughter a wink, "if you don't have something else to _talk_ about first."

"Daddyyyy," Miley whined cutely which only brought chuckles from both her father and her guest. Miley huffed a "come on," and then grabbed Lilly's hand to start dragging her up the stairs and to her room. At least in there she knew her father wouldn't simply barge in on them. Not after the last time he'd opened the door without knocking only to catch his daughter in her birthday suit from just getting out of the shower. There were still water stains on the wall outside her bedroom door from where she'd thrown a vase full of fresh cut flowers at him after screaming like a little girl.

She was so focused on getting to her room that she didn't notice the small blush on Lilly's cheeks at having her hand held by the girl she liked.

"But he's right," the dark haired girl sighed as she closed her door after getting Lilly to sit down on her bed. "We do need to talk."

"I guess we do," Lilly acknowledged as she looked around the room. Miley's bedroom was as large as the combined family room and dining room in her small house, if not larger. The walls were painted a very pale pink and had posters covering the walls, mostly of famous country and pop singers, each and every one of them personally signed. There were also pictures on the dresser and desk of Miley, her brother Jackson, and her mother and father. Lilly noticed that there were odd spaces between some of the framed pictures that might have once held photographs of her and Jake together.

The bed she was sitting on was queen-sized and covered with a very pretty down-filled comforter and throw pillows. A large flat screen TV sat in one corner of the room on top of a stand that held a DVD player, cable box, and about a hundred movies. It was a far cry from the bedroom Miley had had when she'd last visited the girl while they were still living at Mamaw's place.

"Well, actually," Miley sighed, "I need to apologize." She turned away from the door and moved to take a seat at her dressing table, turning the chair around so that she was facing her friend. "When Joannie started going off about…our telephone conversation," she blushed prettily, "and then started teasing me, I was just so flustered that I said the first thing that came into my pointy little head. Unfortunately it was a lousy and completely dishonest remark." She looked up at the bright green eyes regarding her with a patience she didn't feel she deserved and then dropped her eyes back to the hands she held in her lap. "I-I'm sorry. I should never have said that what we did didn't mean anything to me. It was a lie and I've never felt so bad about anything before in my life," she admitted softly.

"Miley," Lilly started to say but the brunette held up her hand and stopped her.

"Please, just…let me finish, Lils," she whispered. When Lilly nodded, and a small smile touched the blonde's her lips at the pet name, she continued. "The reason I was flustered was because it did mean so much to me. I was, and still am, confused about so many things that I haven't thought about before. Like you, and me, and," she paused and shook her head, "I mean, I like you, Lils. A lot. But I'm also worried about liking you too much. I," she paused again, trying to wrestle with herself and her emotions.

"When my daddy and I moved out to California after my mother died, it was like a whole new world to me. Everything was moving so fast and everyone was coming across as so friendly. I made new friends, at least I thought they were my friends at the time, and some of them really were and really did care for me. Others," she sighed, "others just pretended to be my friend because they thought Daddy could help them get a leg up in the music business. I lost a lot of trust in people that I thought really liked and cared for me."

"Oh, Miles," Lilly said softly.

"I should have known better, but I was only a kid at the time. Still am," she chuckled sadly. "It took me a while, but I finally wised up to the fact that there are people out there that are only out for themselves and could care less about who they have to hurt in order to get what they want. I got hurt so many times and by so many people that I had thought were my friends. It…hardened my heart. I didn't know who to trust and who not to, so I ended up not trusting most everybody. That's the real reason we came back to Crowley Corners. Here I knew were people that really cared about Miley Stewart the person and not Miley Stewart the st…the daughter of a star.

"I'm still somewhat trying to get over that," she said softly. "But because of that, because of what happened, sometimes my mouth works to try to protect me before my brain engages and reminds me I'm not still back there and that I can trust the people here back home. Which is why, when Joannie was teasing me, I said what I did. It was wrong, it was a lie, and it hurt you." Miley looked up to where Lilly was sitting quietly on her bed, listening to every word she said with a sorrowful look on her face. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you, Lils. It's not an excuse for what I said, but hopefully you'll be able to find it in your heart to forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive," Lilly smiled back sadly. "I understand. Hell, if anyone knows what it's like to be on the outside and not have anyone that can be trusted, it's me," she chuckled sadly. "When I came out back in eighth grade I was shunned by pretty much the entire town. My church kicked me out, most of my friends back then left me, even the parents told their kids to 'stay away from that homosexual' or they'll just end up with AIDs or be seen as sinners in the eyes of God. Only Joannie and Oliver, and my mom of course, stayed by my side and accepted me for who I am. Since then a few more have come around and realized I'm not some demon sent by the Devil solely to tempt their good Christian children into committing sins of the flesh, but there are a lot more that haven't.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that out in California, but hopefully you realize that those of us here at home love you for who you are, not for something that you or your father can do for them."

"I do realize that," Miley smiled. "I just need to be reminded of it every so often."

"I'll try to keep that in mind," Lilly grinned.

-oo-

The dinner had, of course, been fantastic and Lilly had embarrassingly shown just exactly how much of a glutton she was by eating far too many ribs and wings. While Robbie was appreciative of how much she liked his cooking, Miley took the opportunity to tease her unmercifully. Lilly just laughed it off having heard the same comments most of her life from her mother and friends.

By the time they were finished eating none of them were in any shape to do a tour of the huge house so Lilly and Miley settled into the living room to relax and watch a bit of television. After the revelations of earlier, their after-dinner conversation seemed excessively tame. Jake's hospitalization, and the reason for it, was one hot topic that saw Miley first getting furious with the boy that had tried to run her friend off the road and then laughing hysterically as Lilly told her how she'd wrangled the boy into wrecking his truck.

"I've been on Mamaw's farm and in that field so often helping her spread seed or fertilizer that it was impossible for me not to know about the ramp she'd started building to lay a bridge across the creek and then gave up on the idea. She also let me play the part of the Duke brothers and jump my truck a few times so I knew just exactly where the ramp was in conjunction with her old scarecrow. Jake wasn't so lucky," Lilly laughed as Miley rolled back and forth on the couch holding her stomach she was laughing so hard.

When the two of them had had their fill of laughing Miley asked if Jake was going to see some jail time, but Lilly told her about the talk her mom had with the Mayor and the deal they'd worked out. "As soon as they release him from the hospital he's off to Bluegrass Country," Lilly smiled. "Can't say as I'll miss him."

"Can't say as I don't agree with you," Miley scowled. "I still can't believe that he played me like that for so long. It's not like I don't have enough experience with those types," she stopped herself from continuing down that path and instead said, "I'm just glad he'll be gone and won't cause you any more trouble, Lils," she sighed.

"His cronies will still be around, as well as Amber and Ashley, but I think I can handle them," Lilly grinned.

"Don't worry about those two," Miley smiled fiercely, "I'll keep them in line."

"You don't have to go out of your way with those two," Lilly laughed. "I got used to them a long time ago. I've been able to pretty much ignore their jibes and name calling. At least they're not physical like some of Jakes' old crew. With him now out of the way I'm hoping things will settle down, at least for a bit."

Miley put a friendly hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently, sending a tingling sensation from where the brunette's hand touched her all the way down to her toes. "I still don't think it's right, what they say and do, but just know that if you ever need me I'll be right there beside you."

Lilly didn't quite know what to say. She was still trying come to grips with the fact that Miley was actually considering her a friend again. Just the fact that she was there, sitting in the girl's living room watching TV and had eaten dinner with her and her father, was a bit difficult to believe, but she wasn't going to question her good fortune. She had a chance to spend time with her old friend and the girl she was in love with. There were absolutely no drawbacks to that equation.

As usual, it was as if Miley had a switch somewhere in her that when you flipped it she was suddenly so bubbly and upbeat that you just couldn't help but smile. The topic was changed and they spent the rest of the evening talking about the three remaining softball games coming up that week, Lilly's plans for the rest of the school year, and just about anything that came to mind that didn't involve sexual orientation or bullying.

It was probably the best evening not involving Joannie or Oliver that Lilly could remember having in…years.

-oo-

Lilly and Joannie weren't the only ones currently active in a sport. As a member of the Equestrian Club, Miley did her fair share of horseback riding. Since most of the club members kept their own horses, and those few that boarded theirs out were kept at the new Stewart estate, the club's meetings were typically held at Miley's home. On those twice a month Saturday mornings when the group would meet it wasn't unusual to see six or seven horses and riders wending their way along the main roads on their way to the estate.

For club activities, Miley used two of her horses. Her absolute favorite love, a thirteen year old grey American Quarter Horse by the name of Blue Jeans, was used primarily for herding, trail riding, and dressage. For jumping she had another horse, a beautiful three year old chestnut Anglo-Arabian gelding by the apt name of Hunter.

The club's faculty representative put everyone through their paces from eight A.M. until noon by which time the softball game was also over. The two girls had agreed to meet over at Lilly's home after the game and by the time Miley pulled her Mustang up by the curb it was half past one. As she got out of her car it was to see Lilly engaged in painting the front door of her house. As she approached the front door she could see her friend painting over some not so nice but unfortunately all too familiar words.

"Looks like you'll need a second coat," Miley sighed sadly before finding another brush, dipping it in the can of black paint and starting at the top of the door where Lilly had already finished putting on the first coat.

"Thanks," Lilly smiled up at the brunette as she crouched down to get to the lower part of the door.

"I just wish we didn't have to be doing this at all," Miley huffed. Lilly nodded her head, but didn't bother replying with words.

It killed Miley that Lilly could take all of this in stride. As if it was just another day. And as far as Miley knew, maybe it was. She had no clue what Lilly's life had been like between coming out in eighth grade and now, toward the end of their junior year. She had no clue what Lilly's life had been like since she came back from Malibu, California. Even with as small a town as it was, as small a school as it was, she'd seen nothing of what Lilly had to put up with. And that made her feel ashamed.

Even as she was dipping the brush again in the can, even as she was reaching up to stroke on more black paint over the horrible words that someone had painted on her friend's front door, the door to her own home, tears were streaming down her cheeks, not because of the bullying that Lilly had to endure, but because she had allowed herself to be so blinded to the hate going on around her.

"Miley. Miley," Lilly said softly as she gently took Miley's hand in her own, stopping the brush which was no longer coated in paint but was simply smearing what was there. "Miley," she called out again softly, as the girl she loved cried, taking the brush from her hand and dropping into the grass next to the front stoop. "Miley," she said one more time as the girl turned to fling herself into Lilly's arms as the sobs rose in volume.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Miley kept repeating between sobs as she buried her face in Lilly's chest and strong arms embraced her tenderly.

"It's not your fault, Miles," the blonde murmured softly in her ear, but Miley shook her head, never raising her face from where it was cradled between Lilly's breasts. Even after all of these years, Lilly still knew how personally Miley took things. She had an inkling of what might be going through the blue-eyed girl's thoughts, so she decided to take a stab at what was really bothering her friend and love.

"It's not your fault, Miles," she repeated, and when Miley again started shaking her head, she continued. "There's no way you could have known everything that was happening. Jake made sure that you were kept away from me. His ego and pride wouldn't allow him to let us get together again. I was the girl that essentially said he wasn't enough of a man and there was no way he was going to let you hear that. So he made sure that you never found out about what he or his friends were doing or saying to me."

"I still should have known," Miley wept. "I should have made the effort to find out."

"How?" Lilly asked quietly. "Or even why? Why would you have made an effort to find out about something that you didn't have a clue was going on? There was no reason. I know that no word of what he and his friends were doing got back to you, because he made sure to surround you with his own people."

"B-but not everyone I know is one of his friends," Miley sniffed, getting herself back under control. "Why wouldn't I have heard about it from others, like the kids in the Equestrian Club? Why wouldn't they have told me?"

"A better question might be why _would_ they have told you?" Lilly replied with a sad smile as she used a knuckle to gently wipe away the remaining tears on Miley's cheeks. "It's not like people go around talking about how so and so is being bullied. And no one was going to say anything to you about it for fear that word would get back to Jake and then they'd be the next victims."

"So even though he's going to be gone, his ghost is still going to be haunting you in the form of his old friends?" Miley asked with a pitiful wave toward the door they were painting.

"Miley," Lilly sighed deeply before pushing the girl away from her. "That may be true, but this wasn't done by Jakes cronies," she said with a shake of her head. As Miley's eyes widened with confusion, the green-eyed girl then pointed to a mark and a word that Miley's poor paint job had uncovered near the top of the door.

Miley looked up to where Lilly was pointing to see that her wild brushing had uncovered a crude cross painted in white along with the word "Repent."

"I heard that there was a special Friday Mass last night. The priest's sermon was all about how men should not lie with men nor women with women. That it was God's plan for man and woman to procreate, not take pleasure in the sins of the flesh. This paint job was done by some of the faithful, the same people that welcomed me at church until I came out when I turned thirteen and then kicked me out the door. Not Jake's friends."

Lilly allowed Miley to fall back into her arms and held her as gently as she could while her sobbing renewed.

-oo-

"Did your mother see that, this morning?" Miley asked from her seat on the couch in Lilly's family room. It had taken a while for the slender brunette to calm down from the revelations provided by her new-old friend. It took Lilly telling her that there was no way that she could have known about everything that went on in her life to stop the tears from falling. It took Lilly telling her that most bullying is done not out in public where others can see it, but instead is carried out in private, or in the blackness of night, to get her to understand that she couldn't have known about what was being hidden from her. Yet Miley still felt that she personally could have or should have done something, but had to admit that Lilly was right.

"Yeah, but there's a reason there's four layers of paint on the door. We're kind of used to it," Lilly replied in a matter of fact manner and then reached over to grab a handful of the popcorn sitting in a large bowl in Miley's lap, never once taking her eyes off of the movie playing on the small TV screen.

They could have put the bowl between them, the couch wasn't that large, but for some reason Miley didn't want anything between them right at that moment. She wanted to feel closer to this girl that had supposedly been so much of her early childhood. Using the popcorn as an excuse, she slid closer to the blonde seated next to her until their shoulders and thighs were barely touching. She felt the strong muscles of Lilly's arm tense for a moment at her touch before they relaxed once again as she set the bowl so that it rested on both their legs.

"This way you don't have to lean over each time," Miley offered.

"Sure," Lilly smirked teasingly, pushing her shoulder into Miley's briefly, knocking her over and causing her to giggle before going back to watching the movie, reaching into the bowl every so often.

It wasn't much more than five minutes before they ended up reaching into the bowl at the same time and their hands touched. Miley froze as a tingle of something akin to and electric shock sprang from where her fingers were touching Lilly's, down her arm and straight to her heart causing it to start beating double-time and feeling like it was going to jump right out of her chest. Lilly had frozen for just a moment as well before she grabbed a handful of popcorn and lifted it to her mouth. Miley couldn't be absolutely sure, but she would have sworn that Lilly's hand was shaking just a trifle.

Odd thoughts once again arose in Miley's mind, wondering just how much she truly liked the girl sitting next to her. She'd said it the previous evening. She knew she liked Lilly an awful lot. Maybe too much. She'd been hurt in the past when she'd allowed herself to like someone so much that their eventual treachery had nearly destroyed her. She didn't want that to happen again. She didn't think Lilly would do something like that. She was too honest, too up front about everything. She didn't seem to have any kind of hidden agenda. All she wanted to do was be free to live her life the way she wanted and to spend time with her friends, including Miley. Whenever the two were together Miley felt so comfortable, and she really enjoyed spending time with Lilly. More than that, she really cared about the athletic blonde. Much more than as just a friend. That was what scared her so much.

But right now all she wanted to do was forget about all the pain that was in the past and simply _be_ with Lilly.

Miley rested her head on Lilly's shoulder. Once again she felt the blonde stiffen up for a moment before she relaxed again. Then Lilly did something that surprised her but felt absolutely wonderful. She lifted her arm and put it around Miley's shoulders, pulling her closer. Miley couldn't help but smile as she laid her head on Lilly's chest and felt the green-eyed girl's warmth flow through her.


	8. Chapter 8

_Saturday, May 8, 2009_

"So, Lils, do you ride?" Miley asked her blonde friend with a grin as the two girls were walking slowly along the lane that would take them eventually to the estate's enormous stable.

A tiny pinch of pain stabbed at Lilly's heart, but she ignored it as best she could. She'd started getting used to it. Lilly had pretty much given up on the idea that Miley might ever remember the good times they'd shared when they were younger.

The first time she'd been on a horse was back when the two of them had still been as inseparable as mashed potatoes and gravy. Miley had still been living with her parents at Mamaw's place and her father had just bought the quiet and loveable Blue Jeans for his little baby girl. They'd pretty much spent the day pressed together in the one saddle with Miley's hands on the reigns and Lilly's arms wrapped tightly around her best friend's waist. The memory brought a little smile to her face. The two had ridden that way dozens of times up until the day of Susan Stewart's death.

The last time she'd been on a horse was nearly two years ago when she'd gone out to spend some time with Oliver at his place. It had been a hot August day and they'd ridden out to a small pond on his family farm to do a little swimming. It was the first and last time he'd commented on how great a body she had. Lilly could remember how flush with embarrassment her face had become at the compliment. Her face had been almost as red as his. Unfortunately things had gotten a bit awkward after that and she hadn't been out riding with him since.

"Like any good Tennessee country girl I've been on a horse a time or three, but it's been a couple of years," the green-eyed girl replied with a casual grin.

The previous two weeks had probably been just about the happiest in Lilly's life; or at least in the past few years. It felt as if she'd spent nearly every waking moment with Miley and it even appeared that Miley was just as happy being in Lilly's company. Much more than half the time the two got together outside of school it was at Miley's instigation.

The two girls, sometimes in the company of Joannie or Oliver, sometimes just by themselves, went out for coffee or a snack, hit the DQ for a sundae or Blizzard, or just hung out at Lilly's house. It wasn't much, and it certainly wasn't romantic, but she was more than happy simply enjoying their time together. The time the two spent together, it was almost as if their friendship had never been interrupted in the first place.

Today they were once again out at Miley's estate, the first time since Lilly had had dinner with the Stewart family, and had just been wandering around the buildings and fields and wondering what they could do for fun when Miley had asked her question.

"I'm sure I'm rusty," she finished with another grin.

"That's why I'll put you up on Blue Jeans and I'll take Thunder," Miley returned with a smirk of her own. "Blue Jeans is a pussy cat. You'll love him." All Lilly could do was shrug.

The two girls entered the shadows of the stable and stopped briefly to allow their eyes to adjust to the darker light even though both wide doors on either side of the building were wide open. Seeing a familiar face, Lilly was the first to walk over to a stable door and hold out her hand for the occupant to sniff.

"How you doin' fella," she said softly as a velvety nose first pressed into her palm to get her scent before Blue Jeans took a half step forward so that he could rest his chin on her shoulder and nuzzle her neck while his eyes closed. "Nice to see you again too boy," Lilly chuckled as she scratched his neck.

"It…it seems that he likes you," Miley said softly from somewhere behind her. "That kind of surprises me. He normally doesn't take to strangers so well." The surprised and yet somewhat defeated tone of Miley's voice made it plain to Lilly that she'd screwed up again.

"Uh, yeah," Lilly stammered, wondering if she could salvage this. "Most animals like me for some reason," she added with bare hope that the brunette behind her would accept that as an excuse for the horse's overly friendly demeanor.

"Yeah," Miley replied without a hint of belief in her sad tone. Lilly turned her head to see the blue-eyed girl shake her head as if to get some stray thought out of it before her typical smile returned even if it looked a bit strained. "Whatever. Let's go riding," she said brightly.

The two rode for the rest of the afternoon and into the early twilight, returning just in time to enjoy dinner with Mr. Stewart. Despite the slight tension of earlier they were able to forget the things that had kept them apart for so long and simply enjoy the now.

Dinner, when they finally sat down to the table, was fantastic as usual. Robbie Ray had cooked up another bunch of ribs and thrown in some chicken legs in a homemade barbecue sauce (Mamaw's secret recipe she was told) along with a heap of corn on the cob, butter beans, and grits. The three of them talked about the last three softball games of the season – the Cougars had ended up winning one but losing the other two and thereby were eliminated from districts – as well as Tennessee football and just about anything else they could think of.

After dinner Miley finally took Lilly on a tour of the huge home they'd had built just before they came back from California. There were so many rooms with so many different uses, and that didn't even include the outdoor pool, tennis courts and riding ring with jumps. Lilly couldn't keep herself from ogling just about everything Miley showed her during the course of the tour.

They'd started on the first floor and slowly moved up the stairs until they came to the last door on the second floor.

"And here's the music room," Miley grinned as she threw open the door to a large room that was filled with pieces of electronic sound equipment and literally dozens of guitars of every shape and kind along with at least two different keyboards as well as a grand piano. "Close your mouth or you'll catch flies," the brunette giggled at her friend's wide-eyed and gape-mouthed reaction.

"All-all of these are yours?" Lilly stammered as she slowly and gently moved through the doorway and into room.

"Some are," Miley replied as she walked over to one wall that had at least six guitars hanging on it and picked up what looked to be an old and extremely expensive Martin acoustic from a stand. "Some are my daddy's," she continued on as she took a seat on a nearby stool and started picking out the notes of an old Hank Williams song.

"And the pianos?" Lilly asked as she ran a hand along the gleaming ebony top of the Yamaha grand. "When the heck did you learn to play the piano?"

"Daddy's the real piano player. I'm still not all that good," Miley grinned embarrassedly, "but I'm learning."

Lilly wandered over to where her friend was playing softly and picked up what she believed to be a much cheaper acoustic guitar, pulled over another stool, took a seat and, at the start of the next stanza, joined in much to Miley's surprise if her widening eyes were any indication.

"I started playing about five years ago," Lilly replied with a grin to Miley's unasked question. "I've got an old, second hand Gibson that I play around with, but it's nothing special." Without stopping playing she smiled as she used her chin to point at one wall nearly filled with posters of Hannah Montana. "You a fan?"

"Kind of," the blue-eyed girl replied a touch sheepishly.

"She's cute," the blonde grinned and then, still playing and in a much softer voice, said, "but I think I like her better as a brunette."

Not overly surprisingly Miley's fingers stilled on the strings as she stared at the girl next to her. Lilly tried to identify the look in those eyes, but the closest she could come up with was the expected shock coupled with, maybe, a touch of…fear?

"Imagine my surprise," she explained slowly to the silent girl to her right as she moved directly from Hank Williams to her favorite song; the last one she played on those nights when she was down just before she fell asleep: _Best of Both Worlds_. "Imagine my surprise," she repeated, "when I saw my best friend in the whole world, a girl I hadn't seen for over a year since she moved out to Cali, on the TV screen in my living room. She was up on stage, larger than life, singing her heart out to a theatre filled with people and she had just the most beautiful and excited smile on her face. It was a smile I was immensely familiar with. Even the long blonde wig couldn't stop me from recognizing the girl that I…that I loved. The girl I am still in love with," she said softly, her eyes turned solely to the strings of the guitar in her lap, not sure she wanted to see what was in those blue eyes at the moment of her ultimate confession.

The room was filled with silence, except for the soft notes coming from Lilly's guitar, for the space of a few heartbeats, more than enough time for the girl confessing her love for Miley to start to sweat a bit with nervousness. Then she heard words come from her friend's mouth that, of all the things she'd imagined Miley might say when she told her the truth of her feelings, took her by complete surprise. She's imagined everything from a joyous joining of their love, to an abrupt and painful rejection, to everything in between.

But the words she heard now had never once entered her mind. Even the tone of the words shocked her to her core it was so flat and emotionless.

"How much?"

Lilly froze just as Miley had, her fingers simply stopping and a completely non-musical twang emanating from the instrument. "What?" she asked in just as toneless a voice as Miley's. She was praying that she'd heard wrong, praying to whoever would listen to change those words, but her prayers went unanswered.

"How much do you want to keep quiet? Or…did you want something else," Miley asked softly, the fear in her voice now coming through loud and clear. "I mean, given that it's you, and what you said, if you want me to pay with my…my body…I"

"Stop," Lilly snapped into the pause. "Miley…just…stop." The blonde gulped a few breaths trying only moderately successfully to get some more air in her lungs before finally breathing out sadly. Lilly stood up from the stool and slowly and very carefully returned the guitar she'd been playing to its stand. As she turned back to look at the girl she had fallen in love with so many years ago all she could see was the confusion and fear in her eyes. She walked over to stand in front of her.

"I mean, if you want…"

Lilly placed a gentle finger against the soft lips that she'd imagined, fantasized, kissing far too often, stopping Miley from saying anything more.

"I don't want anything," she whispered, her tone still completely devoid of emotion because she didn't dare allow the feelings rushing through her to get out into the open. "I never wanted anything from you except maybe your friendship. I'm not one of those people you met in California." She looked into those deep blue eyes and didn't see a single change. The only thing in those eyes was fear and betrayal. Most likely the same look of betrayal that was shining in her own eyes. "But I guess that doesn't matter and even friendship, let alone anything more, is too much to ask."

She stepped back and then walked past the girl she now knew to be so far beyond her that any kind of dream she might have had of the two of them being together was just as shattered as her heart. "I'll see myself out," she said softly. "Have a good life…Hannah," she whispered as she closed the door behind her.

Lilly made it all the way to her truck and out to the main road before the tears she'd been holding back by sheer force of will started to fall faster than she could stop them. When her tires slipped onto the gravel edge of the road for the second time she pulled over completely and shut the truck off.

Her horrendous sobs of pain and loss echoed through the night.

_Monday, April 27, 2009_

Joannie didn't even let her get fully out of her car before she accosted Miley in the school's parking lot the following Monday morning.

"What the fuck did you do or say to her, Stewart?" Joannie screamed at her, forcing a frightened Miley back against her car with her fury. "She hasn't called. She won't answer the phone. Her mom tells me she's not feeling well and doesn't want to talk to anyone. Just what the fuck did you do?" the dark blonde girl ranted, her fists closed so tightly that her knuckles were white with tension.

"It's none of your business, Joannie," Miley retorted after gathering wits. "Whatever it is that's going on between Lilly and myself is just that, between Lilly and me. Not you."

"Fuck that!" the dark blonde girl screamed again, slamming a fist against the roof of Miley's car and making her jump. "That girl's my best friend. No one hurts her and gets away with it. I warned you Stewart. That's three strikes. You're out!" she screamed before pulling her arm back, wanting to punch the pretty girl in front of her so badly that she'd need surgery to find her teeth.

She never got the chance. A strong hand grabbed her just at her elbow and prevented her from striking out with all of the force she wanted to. In her fury she turned on whoever it was that had stopped her from meting out righteous punishment only to come face to stone cold face with her best friend.

"Leave her alone, Joannie," Lilly said softly in a totally emotionless voice that scared Joannie much more than the strength she felt in the hand that was still holding her back. From the harsh redness surrounding pale and lifeless green eyes, it was obvious that she'd been crying her eyes out over whatever it was that had happened between the two, but the look in those eyes stopped all words. "It's not worth getting suspended over. She's right. Whatever it is, it's between the two of us and it's going to stay that way. So just leave it."

"Lilly?" Joannie said softly, the tension in her arm dropping as she really looked at her friend. "Are you all right?"

"Just drop it." She didn't even glance at the girl that had been backed up against her car. "In order to feel pain, you have to have a heart. So just…leave it be." Because she refused to look at her, Lilly missed the flinch of pain in Miley's eyes.

"Sure," Joannie answered weakly, "if you say so, Lilly." When she turned to look at the cheerleader her eyes said the opposite, but she wasn't going to say anything with Lilly there.

Lilly didn't say another word before walking off and leaving the two girls behind.

"This isn't over, Stewart," Joannie hissed menacingly.

Miley just shrugged and turned to walk into the school, unconsciously leaving a seething girl at her back. She was just lucky that Joannie did as her best friend asked.

It had taken every ounce of acting skill Miley had to get through that confrontation in the parking lot. It hadn't taken very long at all after Lilly left Saturday night for her to realize just how wrong she'd been…about everything. Joannie wasn't the only one that had tried to get in touch with the blonde over the weekend, but just like Joannie all of her efforts had been firmly and totally rebuffed. She even went so far as to go to the Southern States to see if Lilly was working, but she'd been turned away at the door by the owner saying that Lilly wasn't working that shift even though she'd seen the blonde's truck parked in the lot behind the building.

It had quickly become obvious that, just like the last time Miley had screwed up so royally, Lilly was refusing to speak with her and give her a chance to apologize. Nor did she think she deserved such a chance after the way she'd treated her friend. As Joannie had said, she'd had her three strikes and she was out. There was no way Lilly would be able to forgive her for her cruel and hurtful words.

When she walked into their classroom it was to see that Lilly had taken the last seat on the back row closest to the windows. Seated next to her on her right was Joannie while two of Lilly's friends from the softball team sat in front of the two. Lilly had essentially built a wall of friends around herself for the sole purpose of keeping Miley away from her.

She received that same menacing look from Joannie until Lilly reached over without even bothering to raise her eyes and placed a hand over the other blonde's wrist. With a jerk of her head that completely dismissed the distraught brunette she turned to speak a few soft words to her friend. In light of the new seating plan Miley chose to take the seat up front closest to the door. She was as far away from Lilly as she could be without actually leaving the room.

"This is for the best," Miley murmured to herself. "I've hurt her too much. I don't deserve another chance."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I promised a few of you that if things went well with the last chapter and...well, here's your bonus, special edition ;-)

As a reminder, I don't own HM or any of its characters, I just like to play with them a bit. And like everyone else posting here, I absolutely live for your reviews and comments.

Thanks and take care,

CX

* * *

_Saturday, 16 May 2009_

"Get that cute little keister in here and I'll pour you a glass of lemonade and you can tell me what you've been up to, kiddo," a tall and well-built redheaded woman yelled at Lilly with a wide smile as the blonde raked out the last bag of mulch around a grouping of large azaleas. They'd gotten an order from one of the two local bar and grill restaurants in Crowley Corners, a place that went by the simple name of _Billie's_.

Although, saying that Billie's long and low, dark wooden building is a restaurant would be pushing things just a tad since she made much more money on booze than she did on food. However it did boast to be the only place in town where you could regularly hear live bands playing country and country-pop. More than one then unknown but now famous face had graced her stage. Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Big and Rich, Lady Antebellum, and many others had at one time or another entertained the simple but joyful folks from Crowley Corners.

"Thanks, Billie," Lilly replied with a not so joyful smile of her own, her eyes still showing the pain of the past weekend. "The lemonade sounds good, but I don't think I'd be very good company today."

"You let me be the judge of that, young lady," the older woman replied with another smile even as she took in the disheartened posture of the teen. "If you're good I might even add a touch to that lemonade to make it hard." The smirk on the redhead's lips indicated that the play on words was intentional.

"Thanks, but not only am I too young, I have no interest in alcohol," Lilly shook her head, but her smile widened just a touch at Billie's attempt at humor.

While the two had continued talking, with Billie making the most noise, Lilly had put her tools away in the back of her truck. She'd been doing nothing but going to school and working every hour that she wasn't sleeping.

Today she'd offered to spread the mulch that Billie had ordered for a dollar a bag. The barkeep had jumped at the offer and Lilly had just made an additional forty dollars that she could use to help pay off her debt with Eli for her tires. Like lots of folks, Lilly buried her pain in work to the point where she fell into an exhausted sleep as soon as she finished her homework for the night.

It was only her dreams that betrayed her. Every morning for the past week she'd awoken to a pillow soaked with her own tears.

She hadn't picked up her guitar all week. Music, her usual solace, only made the pain worse. Neither had she said exchanged a word or even a glance with Miley all week at school. Her friends continued to surround her in the classroom and Miley was always the first out the door with nary a look behind her. Joannie and Oliver had been trying their best to cheer her up, but even they had realized that Miley's betrayal, whatever she'd done, was something that Lilly had to work through herself. They made sure, however, that Lilly knew that they would be there for her in whatever way she needed.

The worst part about it was that she couldn't tell everyone the whole story. All she could say was that the brunette had said something so hurtful that it could never be taken back. Even after what Miley had done to her Lilly couldn't bring herself to disclose the singer's secret. A broken heart didn't justify the destruction of someone's life and dreams. At least not to Lilly.

"So, welcome to my living room," Billie said with a grin and a wave to the rest of the table and booth covered barroom.

"Your living room?" Lilly asked with a befuddled look as a tall glass of lemonade was placed in front of her seat at the long bar.

"Yep," Billie grinned. "This is my living room," she pointed back through a pair of swinging doors, "that's my kitchen," she then pointed toward a hallway that led toward the bar's bathrooms, "and back there I have a small bedroom and private bath. This four thousand square foot house is everything a lady that loves to party needs to entertain her friends."

"I didn't know you actually lived here," Lilly said wide-eyed as she took a sip of the sweet and tangy lemonade. "Although I guess it doesn't surprise me," she quipped, but Billie noticed that the small smile still didn't reach those gorgeous green eyes.

"Talk to me girlie," the bartender ordered as she started wiping down the obviously sparkling clean bar with a damp rag. "Who pissed in your Wheaties, or," she tilted her head slightly to the side, "broke your heart?" she knowingly asked in a much softer and kinder voice.

That day Lilly learned just why it was so easy to tell your troubles to a bartender when you even had troubles talking to your friends. Every bit of the story came pouring out of her, at least everything but 'Hannah,' from the first time she'd met Miley, to Susan's death, to the Stewart's move to and then return from California. Everything about her and Jake, her dumping him and coming out of the closet, it all spilled out of her like a fire hose. It was as if some breaker had been thrown as the machinery of her life kicked into high gear and spit out every last shred of her pain and suffering, her love and her hate, her hopes and dreams and how they'd been crushed beyond redemption.

As she'd talked the two women had moved from the bar to a booth and then, somehow, back to Billie's bedroom where Lillie continued to vomit up her life story as it related to a certain blue-eyed girl, her ass of a boyfriend and his posse, their attempt to become friends and the crash and burn that had resulted. Throughout it all Billie had been sympathetic, wiped her tears, and held her as she cried herself out to the point where she eventually fell asleep in the woman's arms as they sat on her bed.

-oo-

_Baby, you and me been getting along for way too long_

_Life's been a bed of roses and sweet, sweet song_

_I know I should not complain, this is gonna sound insane, but_

_Let's fight, let's cuss, get mad, throw stuff_

_Maybe call each other names_

_Slam doors, break glass, I'll leave, come back_

_And I'll take all the blame_

_Let's scream, let's shout_

_Make up, make out_

_Baby, just for tonight_

_Let's fight_

Lilly awoke to the muted sounds and feeling of a heavy drumbeat and the twang of a steel guitar. Her crusty eyes hurt to the point where she knew that they'd be red and puffy from all of her crying.

"I can't believe I did that," she sighed to herself, but instead of getting up she decided to continue lying on top of Billie's bed and listen to the music coming through the walls from the bar.

_You might think that I might think you've lost your mind_

_A love like the one we've got is so hard to find_

_But I miss those crazy nights too_

_I tend to agree with you_

_Let's fight, let's cuss, get mad, throw stuff_

_Maybe call each other names_

_Slam doors, break glass, I'll leave, come back_

_And I'll take all the blame_

_Let's scream, let's shout_

_Make up, make out_

_Baby, just for tonight_

_Let's fight, baby let's fight_

Lilly couldn't help but giggle at the lyrics. The thought of an already happy couple wanting to fight was just too much.

_Don't wanna do what we always do_

_Five o'clock dinner, six o'clock news_

_Baby, roll up your sleeves, and put up your dukes_

"Ah! Now I get it," she mumbled to herself as she slowly slid out of the bed and made her way into the small attached bathroom. One look in the mirror after she turned on the light made her want turn right around and go back to the bed, pulling the sheets over her head. "Jeez, I look like shit," she moaned at her reflection. "Maybe I can get away with saying I've been in a fight," she chuckled to herself.

_Let's fight_

_Baby, let's fight_

_Let's fight, let's cuss, get mad, throw stuff_

_Maybe call each other names_

_Slam doors, break glass, I'll leave, come back_

_And I'll take all the blame_

_Let's scream, let's shout_

_Make up, make out_

_Baby, just for tonight_

_Let's fight_

"Whoever they are, they're good," she grinned after washing her face with cold water and using a hand towel to dry off. Once she felt at least a little bit human she returned to the bedroom and glanced at the alarm clock on the night stand. "Nine-thirty! Oh shit! Mom's gonna kill me," she moaned.

"No she's not," a feminine voice came from the bedroom door. Turning, Lilly saw Billie standing there leaning against the doorframe with a cheesy grin. "I called her and let her know that you would be staying here with me for a bit. Your mom thanked me and asked me to look after you. Said she's been worried about you."

"How did you know my number?" Lilly asked, but then rolled her eyes at the older woman's widening grin. "Forget I asked. Small towns are a just like that," she chuckled.

"That they are," Billie nodded with a grin. "You feeling any better?" she asked, this time with true concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I am. Thanks for lending me your ear and shoulder…and your bed," she added embarrassedly.

"I'm just sorry I couldn't give you any advice other than to simply talk to the girl, but I've found that it's better to let people find their own paths. Best I can ever do is give 'em a little push to get started."

"No, just letting me vent helped a lot," Lilly smiled her thanks to the older woman.

"Then I'm glad I could help," Billie looked the younger girl over a bit before asking, "do you want to come out to listen to the band?"

"Can I?"

"Sure," the redhead grinned. "I promise nothing harder than cola, but at least the music's good."

"They are pretty good," Lilly agreed as the two moved down the hallway toward the restaurant's dining room. "Who are they?"

"They're a couple of kids out of Nashville trying to make it big," the forty-something year old woman grinned. "They call themselves Thompson Square." The duo had finished up their first song while the two of them had been talking and moved into their second song, a little ditty they said was called "Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not."

Whether it was the music, the appreciative crowd, the constantly flowing "on-the-house" sodas or the long cry and nap, Lilly went home later that evening feeling better than she had in a long time.

"Thanks for everything, Billie," she warmly told the redhead as she was leaving around eleven after the band's last set of the evening. "I really appreciate it." Lilly then did something she rarely did, she took the slightly taller woman in her arms, gave her a big hug, and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Really, thank you."

"Anytime, sweetheart," Billie answered with a smile, her cheeks touched by a hint of red that had nothing to do with the rouge she'd put on earlier in the day. "Just remember what I said. It don't have to be tonight, or tomorrow, or even next month, but one of these days you're gonna have to talk to that girl and lay it on the line. You'll never get closure otherwise."

"I remember," Lilly replied with a small smile as she stepped back and then headed toward her truck. "Thanks again," she called loudly over her shoulder.

"And if that girl don't take you," Billie yelled back, "you just come right on back here and I'll teach you some things that'll have her begging you on her hands and knees," she cackled. Lilly just returned a laugh and a wave. "Damn, that's a fine ass," Billie smirked. "Too fine to let it go to waste. If Miley don't jump on that I may just have to do it myself. Mmm mmm."

_Monday, 18 May 2009_

"You do know just exactly how much of an idiot you are, don't you?" the dark haired boy said quietly as he sat across the cafeteria table from a seriously depressed brunette.

He and Miley had been sitting together at lunch every day pretty much since that awful Monday a week ago when Lilly had tuned her out of her life. The first day Oliver had simply sat down at her lonely table without saying a word. He hadn't berated her, he hadn't told her how stupid she was, he'd simply eaten his lunch without a word. Miley had accepted his presence and appreciated his silence. It wasn't uncomfortable at all. If anything she felt a bit relieved.

The second day had been a duplicate of the first, with neither of them talking but simply sharing the table and a touch of human warmth. On the third day she'd opened her mouth to ask why he was sitting with her, but she'd closed it again without uttering a sound. Still, Oliver had noticed and simply nodded his head and smiled at her. The rest of the lunch had remained silent, but just that nod of acknowledgement and smile had made her day.

On the fourth day Miley had finally gotten up the courage to ask why he was sitting with her.

"You looked like you could use a friend," he'd replied with a grin. "You also looked like you were hating yourself for whatever it was you said or did, so I figured I'd keep you company while you thought about what you're going to do."

"Do?"

"Just keep thinking," the boy had grinned again before attacking his lunch, the short discussion obviously over for the day. Even still, Miley felt a jolt of happiness rush through her. If Oliver, one of Lilly's only two friends in the world thought that there might be a chance of her and Lilly getting back together…

_Getting back together? That almost sounds like I want to get back with my boyfriend…except that in this case it would be a…girlfriend?_

The brunette shook her head to push those thoughts away. She knew enough gay people in Malibu and Nashville that they didn't faze her in the least. She liked Lilly so much even though she knew that the girl was gay that she didn't give it a second thought. Even after being told that Lilly was in love with her, romantically, the thought that she herself might be gay was something to think about another day. She had enough on her plate as it was.

When she heard a chuckle she glanced up to see Oliver smiling and shaking his head.

"You're getting there. Just keep thinking," he repeated with an even wider grin.

Friday was another quiet day, with neither of them saying much to the other, but once again it was a comfortable silence. Oliver didn't even ask if she'd been thinking even though she'd been doing not much else ever since that Saturday night.

Miley had done even more thinking over the weekend and had come to at least one major decision. She needed to talk to someone other than her father about what she'd done to Lilly. Her dad had been very nice about the whole thing and had very gently informed her that she'd fucked up royally, but he didn't have much to offer in the way of how to make up with a friend that wouldn't speak to you. "Just keep trying," was his best advice. "Otherwise you'll lose her completely."

She knew that. She might not be a rocket scientist, but even she could understand that there was no way that she could mend the break between her and Lilly without somehow speaking to the girl. The question was how, given that Lilly was constantly surrounded by her teammates and Joannie for the sole reason of preventing Miley from getting too close to their friend. There was one person, however, who had made himself available to her and she knew that she had to take a chance if she was ever going to fix this.

So Monday, near the end of lunch, when Oliver had gone to get up to put his trash away after another silent meal, Miley reached over the table to grab his wrist to keep him from leaving. The dark haired boy had looked at her, raised an eyebrow, smiled, and retaken his seat while the rest of the students and teachers left to head back to their classes.

Over the next hour Miley told him everything that had happened to her since she'd left for California when she was ten years old. He hadn't batted an eye when she'd told him about how she'd created the persona of Hannah Montana so that she could follow her dream of having a singing career while still maintaining a relatively normal school life. She told him about all of the frauds and fake friends that had gotten close to her only because of who her father was and what they thought he might be able to do for them. She told him about some of the people at the record label and at the concert venues that only wanted to steal some of the bright light that surrounded Hannah. She told him about all the times she'd been hurt by believing in so-called friends that had ended up only using her for their own desires.

Miley then told him about the night that Lilly had come over to deliver a load of feed for the horses and how, when she'd walked out of the house to see the blonde sitting in her truck that she'd suddenly become frightened for no reason at all.

"I don't know why just the sight of her frightened me, but it did. I mean right down to my toes! I couldn't move I was so scared. And then, in the next instant, that fear was gone and it was just Lilly sitting there wanting to deliver a load of feed."

"I don't know either Miley, but let's skip that for now. Let's also skip the next few weeks because, frankly, I watched how close the two of you became," Oliver said with a kind smile. "I could see how your eyes would light up when Lilly walked into the room. It was the same light that would shine in her eyes when you walked in," he grinned. "So instead, tell me what happened that night."

And she did. Through her tears and her sobs, she told him of how she'd so badly wronged a girl that, when she thought back on it, was simply trying to tell her that she loved her. That's when he asked her if she knew how much of an ass she was. Oliver had ignored her tears and her crying and told her what she needed to hear. All she could do was nod her head and continue to cry.

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked while handing her his handkerchief after her sobs had retreated to mere sniffles.

"I need to talk to her, to apologize and beg her to take me back, but she won't let me get close enough to do that."

"It's too bad you can't write a song and sing it for her," Oliver laughed jokingly.

"What? Wait! Why can't I?" Miley asked, suddenly excited, her tears forgotten as an idea formed in her mind. "Why can't I sing a song to her? That's a great idea, Oliver! I'll need your help, but if it's that…" the light shining in Miley's suddenly sparkling eyes should have been infectious, but Oliver just shook his head, this time with a hint of chagrin.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" he chuckled sadly.

* * *

"Let's Fight" by Thompson Square. Release Date: May 25, 2010 by Stoney Creek

Songwriters: Westin Davis, Kip Moore, Keifer Thompson


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Many thanks to everyone for your great comments. You're the reason I keep at this gig ;-)

And Wade...now that would be telling, wouldn't it? (LOL)

Here's hoping you enjoy this next episode.

* * *

_Thursday, May 21, 2009_

Lilly glanced out of the corner of her eye as Miley bolted through the door as soon as the last bell for the day rang. For all of the first week that they'd been apart Miley had run from the room at the end of each day looking as if she were desperately holding back her tears. This week, however, there seemed to be a renewed determination in those deep blue eyes. Lilly wondered what the girl was thinking. The sigh that escaped her lips was loud enough for Joannie to hear.

"Please don't tell me you're still pining for that girl," Joannie asked in an exasperated tone as she started to put her books in her backpack.

"Seven years of loving a person doesn't go away overnight," Lilly replied softly enough that only her best friend could hear her, especially with her face down and her eyes looking at the conglomeration of things in her own backpack. The other two teammates that made up her classroom fortifications were jabbering away together making plans for the weekend so it was unlikely that they would listen in on the conversation. Still, she kept her voice down.

"Or even over a couple of weeks," the blonde added as she too started to put her books away. At the sound of a hmmph from beside her, she decided a comparison might be better able to get through her catcher's thick skull. "Tell me you wouldn't still be hurting if you and Todd broke up over what was essentially a misunderstanding," Lilly challenged her friend. She was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath and then slow exhale of acceptance of her argument.

"I guess I can see your point," the other blonde admitted with a nodding of her head. "Misunderstandings happen, but still…"

Okay, so it was a bit more than a misunderstanding, Lilly admitted to herself, but she couldn't say that Miley had essentially called her a blackmailer and had seemed to, for at least a few moments, believed it. Joannie could never know the truth of that night. No matter what had been said or how hurt she might feel, she could never betray Miley in that way. Looking at what had happened in hindsight, she thought that they'd both overreacted, but the pain was still there even if she knew the background behind the brunette's initial assumption.

"Still, she's hurt you so much and so often in such a short period of time, I can't understand why you'd even be willing to consider her," Joannie finished her statement.

As was typical for her, Lilly just was incapable of holding on to her anger. She had slowly come to the point where she believed that some kind of heartfelt apology from the brunette, along with some form of acknowledgement that her feelings had at least been heard even if they weren't reciprocated, could help to mend the rift between them. It was also possible that such a belief was a pipe dream and that even with an apology there would still be an issue of trust, or lack thereof, between them that could not be recovered.

"It actually hasn't been that short a time. The first was when we were ten and she stopped talking to me and moved away without a word. The next time was in eighth grade when she came back from California and didn't even acknowledge my existence. Now we're sixteen…"

"Almost seventeen."

"Almost seventeen," Lilly conceded with a grin since it helped her argument rather than hurt it. "It's only been twice in a month. Hell! She's got a better record than you in that department, Joannie." Lilly smirked at the pout that adorned her best friend's face at the memories of a distant summer when Joannie had been all crazy about her then boyfriend to the total exclusion of her friends. It had been an entire summer of broken promises and injured feelings that took a while to recuperate from. Yet when the boy had eventually dumped her, who was the first person that Joannie called to cry to?

"Okay, okay. Just don't remind me," Joannie begged. "But still, you're too forgiving, Lilly."

"Says the girl that's had to beg my forgiveness more times than either she or I can count," the green-eyed girl smirked.

"Touché."

By this time the two had left their classroom and were well on their way to the parking lot when Lilly felt an enormous weight land on her back and shoulders.

"Liiillly-poooppp," Oliver shouted at the top of his lungs and, thankfully, not in Lilly's ear.

"How the heck do you enunciate all those 'Ps'," Lilly laughed as she balanced the weight of her best male friend on her back.

"It's a gift," the brown haired boy replied with his own smirking grin as he slipped down to the ground before Lilly fell. "Only one of the many," he stated pompously as he brushed away the hair that had fallen into his eyes and puffed out his chest with feigned self-importance.

Joannie, laughing, opened her mouth, but before she could say a word Lilly's hand covered her lips.

"Do. Not. Ask him what other gifts he might have," she laughed, "or you'll embarrass him even more when he can't come up with any."

"Hey!" Oliver complained, although not too loudly.

"Aww, you know we still love you, Ollie-pop," Lilly told the pouting boy as she threw an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a rough side-hug. Which then put her in a perfect position to slip her fingers under his armpit and to start tickling him fiendishly. "So where are you taking me for my birthday?" the blonde asked the boy wriggling as hard as he could to get away from her questing fingers and not having any luck.

"Noooo. I can't tell. It's a secret!" Oliver squealed like a little girl, much to Joannie's delight and Lilly's laughter. There was no way that either girl was going to allow him to live it down either.

Lilly relented, not wanting him to feel he had to get her back or, even more likely, end up peeing his pants like he had in third grade.

"All I can promise," Oliver grinned as he panted, trying to get his breath back, "is that it will be memorable."

For some reason, Oliver's words sent a shiver of apprehension down her spine.

_Friday, May 22, 2009_

"Come on! Come on, slow poke. If you don't get a move on we're going to be late," Joannie called up the stairs at Lilly's house.

"Keep your panties on. I'll be down in a second," Lilly yelled back, smirked, and then added, "unless of course _you're_ my birthday present. Then you can feel free to take them off along with the rest of your clothes."

"Truscott!" Joannie screamed and Lilly laughed just imagining how red her friend's face must be getting.

Putting the finishing touches on her hair by tying it up into a low ponytail with a black ribbon that perfectly matched her black "We Shall Be Free" t-shirt, she glanced at herself one last time in the mirror, decided she was as good as she was going to get, and headed down the stairs to her impatiently waiting friends.

It had been a relatively good day overall. Exams were finally over and today had been the last full day of school for the year. Sunday would be Baccalaureate, where even that old bastard of a priest couldn't forbid her from receiving Communion. They'd get their grades on Monday and then there would be the graduation ceremony on Tuesday for the seniors. Wednesday and every day thereafter until September was summer vacation. There was absolutely nothing to complain about.

And to top it all off, it was her birthday. She was officially seventeen. Could it get any better?

Her mother had surprised her at breakfast with homemade French toast and bacon before handing her a small, neatly wrapped gift box that contained the beautifully crafted silver rosary that currently hung around her neck under her shirt. Then she'd been laughingly presented with a hot pink wig in a bob cut that for some reason she'd always thought to be cute. It was her mother's way of giving her a gag gift, not knowing that Lilly really had wanted that wig for some reason.

No, she could at least admit to herself that she knew the real reason she liked it. And of course that reminded her of the only thing that had brought a hint of concern to her throughout the remainder of the school day.

Miley had left school right after lunch and hadn't returned. Even though they weren't speaking, Lilly still kept track of Hannah Montana's appearances and there wasn't anything scheduled for the weekend that would have required the secret pop star to leave school early.

It had worried her for a while, but she'd pushed those worries to the back of her mind when both Joannie and Oliver had jumped her after school.

Her mom wouldn't be home until after eight – she still had a business to run, but she'd promised to bring home a cake and ice cream for them to share before bedtime – which worked out perfectly since Oliver and Joannie were taking her out for a birthday dinner celebration.

She just didn't know where, and they weren't saying.

"Let's go, Lilly. You're driving," Oliver grinned at her as he tossed her the keys to her own truck as soon as she'd stepped into the foyer.

"Oh, gee, thanks," Lilly returned his grin. "I don't even know where we're going."

"Where else would we go on a Friday night," Oliver laughed. "Just head to Billie's."

Ignoring the unexplained shiver of anxiety that went down her back, Lilly led her friends out to the truck and drove the twenty minutes out to the only restaurant/bar in the area with live music.

It was her birthday. She was going to celebrate no matter what feelings of trepidation flowed through her.

Her fears seemed to be unfounded as the three of them talked and laughed through a dinner of heavily fried foods that – despite the calories and fat, or maybe because of it – tasted wonderful. Billie even brought out three cupcakes complete with a candle on each for the birthday girl. The entire bar laughed, clapped, and sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. All-in-all it was turning out to be a truly great evening.

Until the lights went down in the bar and then came up on the stage to illuminate a young, pretty blonde.

"Hey, ya'll," the blonde called out as she slung her guitar over her shoulder. "I'm Hannah Montana."

-oo-

Billie had been happy to help when Hannah had explained why she wanted to play at the bar. The teen hadn't said exactly who it was that she'd be singing to, but Billie was all for getting friends back together. So they'd agreed on the first five songs to be sung, all some of her top hits over the years, knowing that the final song of the short set was going to be special.

The crowd was as raucous as ever, stamping their feet and clapping their hands while singing along to the songs. Her band was even bringing their A-game for which she was grateful.

Only one person in the audience didn't seem to be enjoying the show.

Lilly sat at her table the whole time with her arms crossed over her chest and an angry frown on her face.

When the last of the agreed upon songs had been sung, her band set down their instruments and put their things away as Hannah stepped back up to the mike.

"First, I want to thank y'all for coming here tonight. It's been a real pleasure entertaining you." As the blonde pop star started speaking the members of her band slowly exited the stage, leaving her alone in the spotlight. "Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to give y'all any kind of encore," Hannah added as she pulled a stool up to the mike and took a seat with her guitar on her knees.

"I know that I'm known for writing and singing certain types of songs, and those songs have been real good to me over the years, but I have a special song I'd like to sing for you that doesn't really fall within my usual genre." The rowdy crowd that had been screaming only moments before quieted as they realized the always happy star's smile had completely disappeared.

"You see," she said as she looked out over the now nearly silent crowd, "there's someone that I wronged…horribly. I'd like to fix it somehow. I know sometimes some things can't be fixed," Hannah gave a small, sad smile as she said this, giving everyone to understand that whatever it was that she'd supposedly done wasn't something that a simple 'sorry' could help, "but I've never been a quitter, so I want to give it another shot to try to show that person just how sorry I really am."

Hannah started strumming a slow, melancholy tune on her guitar.

"Here's hoping that my words can get through to her."

And with that desperate hope, she began to sing.

_How many times can I say that I'm sorry_

_Before you just turn away_

_How many times can I not say I love you_

_Back when you say it to me_

_How many times can I stand watching your smile_

_Melt away at my unthinking words_

Miley looked past the bright lights of the stage to the table where her friends, and one special person in particular, were sitting. The ponytailed blonde with the water glass in front of her started shaking her head, so Miley put everything she had into the chorus.

_I've had my three strikes and more than that_

_All I want is one more turn at bat_

_Can you find it within you_

_To give me one more chance_

_Please tell me how you can love me_

_Please tell me how I can love you_

_Please, oh please,_

_Please give me just one more chance_

Even from the stage she could see tears in those deep green eyes that she loved so much, but that head just kept shaking in denial.

_I know I've been the worst kind of friend to you_

_You don't owe me anything_

_You laid out your heart but then I broke your trust_

_Then I let you walk away_

_So how can I show you I've learned my lesson_

_That I'm different than before_

As she started in on the chorus for the last time, there were tears in Miley's eyes as she watched the girl that had loved her, and that she was coming to realize that she loved as well, push back her chair, turn slowly, and walk out of the bar. Even though she knew she'd been denied, she had to sing that empty chorus one more time no matter the tears now flowing unchecked down her cheeks.

_I've had my three strikes and more than that_

_All I want is one more turn at bat_

_Can you find it within you_

_To give me just one more chance_

_Please tell me how you can love me_

_Please tell me how I can love you_

_Please, oh please,_

_Please give me just one more chance_

_Please, oh please,_

_Please give me one more chance_

She never heard the applause.

Only the slamming of the door.

-oo-

"I tried to warn you it wouldn't work," Oliver told the crying songstress as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

With the story, and the song, and her departing, crying friend, the cat was out of the bag. So Joannie stood leaning against the wall next to the door as she watched Miley Stewart, aka Hannah Montana, cry her eyes out.

"Why?!" Miley sobbed into her hands. "Why couldn't she at least listen to me?"

"Oh, she heard," Joannie told her bitterly with a shake of her head. "She heard Hannah Montana apologize to her."

Oliver glanced over at the dirty blonde and smiled, not overly surprised that even Joannie had figured out why Miley's song hadn't worked.

"Then why…"

"Miley," the dark haired boy sighed, "haven't you realized it yet? Lilly could care less about Hannah Montana. She doesn't _know_ Hannah Montana. She's not even that much of a fan of her music. Hannah never did or said anything to hurt her…and she certainly isn't in love with Hannah. The girl that hurt her, the girl that needed to apologize to her, the girl that had to ask for one more chance, wasn't Hannah Montana.

"It's Miley Stewart."

The realization of what she'd done hit Miley like a blow to the gut. Her heartfelt apology and plea for a second chance had meant absolutely nothing. In fact, it had probably made things even worse.

Her crying only got louder.

-oo-

Lilly stormed out of Billie's, slamming the door on her way and tried to remember where she'd parked her truck since she was having trouble finding it through the tears in her eyes.

"How dare she!" Lilly sobbed as she looked left and right and left again before spotting her old truck parked in the corner of the lot.

"She doesn't understand one damn thing!" she railed as she stormed over to her old hemi. Within seconds she had backed out of the space before peeling out of the parking lot with a roar.

"And those two! Ollie and Joannie! They knew, dammit! They can just get a ride home with that dumb blonde!"

"So much for a happy b-birthday," she sobbed as she tried to wipe her eyes so that she could see out the front window.

She knew she was letting her emotions run away with her, but she couldn't stop it from happening. She needed to get away. Needed to get home. Needed the comfort of the one person that had never, ever, turned away from her no matter the cause. She needed the one person that had always been there for her when she needed her.

Lilly needed her mother.


	11. Chapter 11

_Saturday, May 23, 2009_

"Lilly? Oliver and Joannie are downstairs," Heather called softly through her daughter's door at eight-thirty the next morning.

"Traitors should just die!" the blonde screamed from within the confines of her sheets and blankets.

Lilly had spent a good part of the night quietly crying - first in her truck on the way home, a trip that she barely remembered and was surprised she'd survived without having an accident - and then in the loving arms of her mother. It was the feeling of the strength and love in those arms that allowed her to scream and cry and let it all out. Her mother didn't judge her nor did she try to comfort her, she was just there for her when she needed her. Just as she always had been. Giving her just exactly what she needed. It gave Lilly the strength to eventually drink a cup of hot chamomile tea and go to bed.

Even there she'd cried, only softly so as not to wake her mother. She'd eventually fallen asleep near two, but had awakened again just after seven. Since then Lilly had been lying in bed listening to her mother getting ready to start her day. The shop didn't open until nine, but that didn't stop Heather Truscott from doing as much as she could around the house before leaving. Just a few minutes earlier Lilly had been informed that there were eggs and bacon staying warm in the oven and that they'd finally have birthday cake and ice cream when her mother got home later that evening.

Lilly heard her bedroom door opening and the next thing she knew she was laying beneath the weight of two not so small bodies and trying to get her breath back.

"We're not traitors," Joannie told her from where her body crossed the blonde's hips and legs.

"I knew it wouldn't work. I even tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen to me. Miley was so damned determined to tell you she was sorry."

"Yeah, great job she did with that," Joannie snarled. She was still furious with the brunette that had hurt her friend. As soon as she'd figured out who it really was beneath that blonde wig she'd been ready to stand up in the middle of the bar and call her out. Only Oliver's gentle but persistent hand on her shoulder kept her in her seat. Once he'd explained everything to her, including how hurt Lilly would be if Joannie tried to get revenge on Miley by revealing her secret, she'd eventually cooled off. But that didn't mean she'd forgiven the singing pop tart.

"At least she tried," Lilly mumbled from beneath the covers. That is until Oliver, who had been lying across her belly and chest, pulled them off her face.

"What's that?" he smirked, tilting his head and turning those sparkling brown eyes on her. "Did I hear that right? Did you just defend Miley Stewart?"

"I can't believe it. This girl is officially pussy-whipped," Joannie laughed.

"Oh, no, she'd have had to actually get some pussy for that," Oliver grinned evilly. "I happen to know for a fact that not only is she still as pure as a 'virgin' forest, but she hasn't even had her first kiss yet."

"That's not true!" Lilly snapped, before her mouth dropped open, her eyes went wide, and her face turned a bright red as she realized what she'd just confessed to.

"Oh, and which of those two statements isn't true, Lillian Truscott?"

"Oops, forgot the mother unit was still here," Joannie mock whispered, covering her mouth with her hand as her eyes laughed at her best friend's sudden predicament.

"I…I have had my first kiss," Lilly answered in a small voice as her face reddened even further as she turned to look at her mother standing in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her face.

"Oh, is that all," Heather said as her lips dropped into a somewhat sad smile. "I already knew that."

"How did you know that and we didn't?" Joannie pouted.

"Yeah, I thought you didn't keep secrets from your friends," Oliver accused the blonde with a slightly hurt expression.

"Some things you can only tell your mother," Lilly replied, still in that small voice, her eyes begging her mother not to elaborate. Heather gave her a slight nod that answered her eyes while at the same time telling her that if she wanted to talk later she'd be there for her.

Both of her friends were quiet as they took in Lilly's pained expression.

"Getting back on topic," Oliver spoke into the silence, not surprised to see the relief on the blonde's face, "why are you being so forgiving of Miley all of a sudden?"

"Because," Lilly said with a small smile, "she wrote a song for me."

"But Hannah…" Joannie started to say, but a quick glance from Lilly shut her up. Some things she didn't even share with her mother.

"I'll leave the three of you alone," Heather said, reading the mood. "Just don't stay in bed all day, Lilly."

"Don't worry. We won't let her," Ollie laughed.

"I've got work this afternoon anyway," Lilly added, so with smile and a wave Heather left to head on in to work.

"To answer your question, I had a lot of time to think last night and this morning," the green-eyed girl explained while Joannie moved to take a seat at the foot of her bed and Oliver sat on the edge of the mattress. When he offered his hand, Lilly took it and gave it a squeeze before continuing. "The first five songs were all Hannah Montana and, frankly, I could have cared less," she took a deep breath and then grinned stupidly, "but that last song, that last song was all Miley."

"Then why did you storm out like you did?" Joannie asked with a confused expression.

"Because I was angry and hurt. As you thought when you first walked in here, and as I was thinking last night, the person sitting up there singing wasn't Miley Stewart. It was Hannah Montana. But the more I thought about it, the more I remembered the words to the song and the look in her eyes, I realized that while she might have still been wearing the clothes and wig, she'd completely dropped her Hannah persona."

"So, are you going to forgive her?" Oliver asked in a quiet voice.

"Not yet," Lilly sighed. "She still needs to learn that not everyone is just out for her fame or her money…and," Lilly's voice dropped so that it was hard to hear the next words.

"And she still needs to remember."

There were no words that her friends could say to that, so they both simply moved to embrace her, giving her the hugs that she needed right then as her eyes threatened to tear up again.

-oo-

Where Lilly had Heather to lean on, Miley used Robbie Ray's shoulder as a crying pad most of the night. She'd eventually fallen asleep on the family room couch with his arm around her shoulders and her head on his chest. When she awoke the next morning it was to find herself in her own bed, still in the clothes she'd worn the previous evening, and Mamaw sitting in a chair not too far away.

"M-Mamaw?" the brunette asked confusedly as she tried to squint past the mid-morning sunlight coming through her large windows. "What are you doing here?"

Her grandmother looked up from whatever she had been doing on her Kindle to take in the befuddled and still somewhat puffy red eyes of her favorite grandchild.

"Your father called me earlier this morning and told me about last night. The two of us talked and we agreed that it was time you and me had a little heart-to-heart," Ruthie Ray Stewart said. The words were not spoken unkindly, but neither were they said in a manner where Miley felt that she would have any chance of refusing. That didn't mean she wasn't still a bit confused…and frightened.

She didn't remember everything she had cried to her father about last night, but she distinctly remembered one thing in particular.

The fear must have shown on her face because Mamaw smiled sympathetically and shook her head.

"I'm not gonna say a word about one girl, even my own grandchild, lovin' another girl, sweetheart. If Lilly makes you happy, then I'll be happy. That's all me and your mom and pa would ever wanted for ya, darlin'. We just want you to be happy."

The relief on her face must have been just as obvious because Mamaw let out a soft laugh.

"And if you had to fall in love with another girl, you couldn't have made a better choice than Lilly Truscott. I love that girl as if she were my own. Even with everything that's been thrown at her, she's always been true to herself. She has more strength than any other person I know. And her heart? Oh, dear lordy, that girl's heart is a mile wide and an eternity deep. Lilly has always been willing to lend a helping hand to anyone that needs her."

The look that then crossed her grandmother's face wasn't one that Miley ever wanted pointed in her direction.

"If anyone in this town deserves to be beloved of God, it's that girl. That damn priest don't know what he's missing."

"You don't need to convince me, Mamaw," Miley smiled at her grandmother. "Lilly deserves so much better than the way that some treat her." The smile faded. "Including me. I just wish I could remember…" she trailed off.

"Well, Miley," Mamaw said as she put her Kindle in her oversized purse and stood up from her chair, "why don't you get up and get dressed. I'll help your pa rustle up some breakfast for you and then you and I are gonna take a little ride back out to my place." She gave the young girl a significant look. "There's something I think you need to do."

"Y-yes'm," Miley replied softly.

Why?

This was Mamaw. The woman that had been by her side since before her mother had died. The woman that had been by her side since her birth.

So why was she suddenly so afraid?

-oo-

After a relatively light breakfast of only toast and tea, the selection and quantity enforced by her grandmother, Miley found herself timidly climbing into the passenger seat of Mamaw's old Ford pickup for a trip that would take them to the other side of town and the farm upon which her father had been born and raised. It was also the place where her entire family had lived until…

Until shortly after her mother died.

Every time she asked her grandmother why they were heading back to her place, the most she'd get out of the older woman was a kind of sad smile and, "Don't worry, darlin'. You'll see."

Miley found her trepidation at this trip growing as the miles between her and the farm fell quickly, and Mamaw's secretiveness wasn't helping in the least to slow her rapidly beating heart.

Miley's grandmother finally broke her relative silence as they pulled off the road onto her dirt driveway borderd by well-maintained white, three-board fencing.

"Miley, hun," the older woman softly asked, "do you remember the last time you came out to visit me?"

"Sure. It was last Christmas. We did Thanksgiving at Grandma Ruby's and the Fourth at our place. That's the way we've always done it."

"That's right, sweetie," the woman smiled lovingly. "So can you remember when the last time was that you came out here when it _wasn't_ Christmas?"

"Oh, sure," Miley grinned, "it was…" her smile faltered as she tried desperately to come up with an instance and her mind left her hanging without any support.

"Don't fret none, puddin', but it was just after your mama died and before you left for California," came the sad answer that Miley couldn't supply. "You faithfully come out to visit every Christmas with Robbie Ray and Jackson, along with the rest of the family like, Earl, Bubba Joe, and Luann, even Ruby. But the rest of the year? You've always got an excuse of one kind or another."

When Miley was about to protest, Mamaw held up her hand. "I don't blame you one bit, Miley, I mean it can't be easy for you. I just wanted to get you thinkin' and to realize the truth of the matter."

"Why are you saying this, Mamaw?" the brunette asked in a decidedly timid voice.

"Cause it's something you need to hear, and…there's something I gotta ask you to do for me," came the soft reply. "First, it might be a good idea for us to be gettin' outta the truck."

With a nod of acknowledgement, Miley slowly opened the door and stepped out onto the dirt track that was her grandmother's drive. She'd been studiously avoiding it, but her heart jumped another twenty beats per minute the moment she took in the sight of the old farmhouse that had been her home for the first ten years of her life.

"Can I offer you another cup of tea, dear?" the still dark haired older woman asked as they walked slowly up the porch steps and into the cozy interior of the large house.

"M-maybe just a glass of water?" Miley replied, her mouth suddenly dry and her eyes taking in everything except the stairs to the second floor; the place where her old bedroom resided…along with that of her parents.

"How about a bottle instead," Mamaw smiled as she walked the both of them into the country kitchen.

"S-sure."

_Why isn't my tongue working the way it should_, Miley wondered? _I've got nothin' to be scared of._

Mamaw pulled a bottle of water from her circa 1970's, avocado colored fridge and handed it to her granddaughter.

"So," Miley took a quick swig of water to wet her dry mouth, "so what is it you n-need me to do?"

Her grandmother put a tender arm across her shoulder and walked her over to the large picture window that looked out over the lower pasture and…

Her barn.

A shiver of unexplained fear went through Miley as she took in the sight of the old, dilapidated structure.

"Miley, hun, I need you to go out into the barn for me." As Miley's head unconsciously started shaking a firm no, Mamaw tightened her grip around the young woman's shoulders. "Yes, hun, I need you to go out into the barn, go up into the loft, and sit or lie down in the hay. Can you do that for me?"

"W-why!" Miley squeaked, not even recognizing her own voice with all of the fear it contained.

"It's impossible for me to say, sweetie," Mamaw looked at her intently, "but I really need you to do this for me…no…not for me." She turned the pale face of her much beloved granddaughter to her and looked at her with a mixture of love, compassion, and steel. "You need to do this for yourself, Miley. Otherwise you'll never move past this. You'll never be able to be truly happy. Not unless you do this one thing." As Miley started shaking her head again, Mamaw shook her roughly until her granddaughter's wide, fear-filled eyes looked up pleadingly into her own. "You _need_ to do this, Miley. Not for me, not for your father, but for yourself. Do you understand me?"

Miley stood there a moment staring into her grandmother's unflinching eyes and knew that she wouldn't be able to argue her way out of this. What's more, she had no idea why she was so upset about the prospect of going up into that loft. All she knew was that it scared her to death, but that Mamaw was right. Something, some small part of her was telling her that she _needed_ to do this! She dropped her eyes and her chin nearly hit her chest before she answered in one of the softest voices she's ever used.

"O-okay, Mamaw."

Before what little shred of strength she had left her completely, Miley turned and walked out the back door onto the rear porch to stare with foreboding at the decrepit old barn.

From here the building looked like it was straight out of a slasher horror flick. Like Jason or Freddy or Mike were just waiting for her to step through those doors.

Marshaling her courage she stepped down the two short steps onto the neatly trimmed back lawn and started walking toward the barn. Even though the morning sun was shining she would have sworn up and down that there were storm clouds hovering over the building just waiting to unleash deadly streaks of lightning. She suppressed the shiver that ran down her back and straightened up.

"One small step for man…" she murmured to herself.

The closer she walked, the more she realized that the barn actually wasn't in as horrible a shape as she'd first thought. Yes, the board siding was weathered, but it looked clean and she could even see brighter colored slabs of redwood where it was obvious older boards had been replaced. The imagined clouds over the barn didn't disperse, but it almost seemed as if the closer she got, the more the sun were trying to break through.

Unfortunately, the clouds in her mind were still there when she stepped up to the tall and wide double doors. She noticed that her hand was shaking as she reached up and undid the simple catch that held the doors closed. Taking one last deep breath, she grasped the handle for the left hand door and pulled it open just enough for her slender body to slip through into the darkened interior.

No characters from horror movies immediately jumped out at her and she loudly let go the breath that she'd been holding.

The inside of the barn was just as neat and clean as she would expect of any place Mamaw kept. All the tools hung in their proper places on the walls while bags of chicken feed and seed corn from the last harvest were laid out in rows on top of wooden pallets. The old but functional, faded green John Deere tractor sat smack dab in the middle of the open space in front of the door, its multiple attachments arranged within easy maneuvering distance against the left wall.

Windows placed high on the side walls let in plenty of light so that there were only a few shaded corners. Listening closely she could hear what sounded like field mice moving around behind and most likely within the bales of hay stored in the back.

All-in-all, it didn't look anything like the fear-ridden place in Miley's mind, but that didn't matter to her shaking limbs.

Summoning every bit of determination she could muster, the blue-eyed brunette strode over to the plain wooden ladder, put her water bottle in her hip pocket, and climbed up into the only slightly darker loft.

It was just as she remembered it. Low piles of fluffy straw filled the open space beginning about four feet from the edge and gradually getting taller the closer they got to the back wall. The air was warm and surprisingly fresh smelling with that scent that you could only get on a working farm. It was nostalgic.

And terrifying.

"I _will_ do this, dammit!" Miley admonished her quaking legs, forcing herself to move further into the bedding and take a seat, pulling the water bottle out of her back pocket and setting it down to her right. Without thought she moved into a more comfortable position, crossing her legs, ankles over her knees.

Glancing around, the loft didn't seem like a place that would or could induce fear. The sun was bright where it angled down from a nearby window, bathing the straw and exposed wood such that she could easily imagine Rumplestiltskin and the miller's daughter spinning the brightly glowing straw into threads of gold. Tiny motes of straw and dust sparkled in the air. Instead of fear, it looked more like the perfect place to relax.

If she wasn't still shivering.

Taking a deep breath, Miley closed her eyes and lay back to try to calm her rapidly beating heart. With her eyes closed she could feel the warmth of the sun on her face and arms, the insides of her eyelids bright pink from its life giving light and heat. Slowly but surely her heart calmed to a more natural pace and the fear drew back. It got to the point where she could feel a smile trying to break free.

Opening her eyes once again she was faced with the specter of a ghost hovering over her. She nearly screamed in terror until she realized that it wasn't actually a ghost. Instead, she felt the beginnings of a raging migraine headache.

The ghost was just there, hovering over her prone body. It was obviously smaller than she was but was like a mirror image of her larger self.

Her headache continued to grow as the image seemed to try to solidify. The pain got so bad that it was nearly impossible for her to keep her eyes open with the sunlight spearing them like red hot pokers. When the image started to lean down toward her, and her up toward it, the ghost firming and taking shape in her mind, the pain grew excruciating until, just as their faces touched, her head exploded in a pain so great she knew she was having a stroke.

As she succumbed to the blackness, one last fleeting, surprising thought flitted through her pain wracked mind.

_Lilly?_


	12. Chapter 12

_Monday, May 25, 2009_

It was still relatively early on the last day of the school year and Lilly was essentially satisfied with her academic results. Her report card showed two As, three Bs, and two Cs. It was one of the best report cards she'd ever gotten. She'd spent some time after the final class had let out standing in the hallway talking quietly to Oliver and Joannie before they all planned to head over to the DQ for a celebratory Blizzard. As they spoke, the few remaining students rapidly and noisily vacated the halls around them.

The three made their way slowly down the long hallway to their lockers to grab the last of their things before the start of the always too-short summer break. Lilly could hear the echo of their footsteps as they rang down the long run of lockers lining the walls on either side of the hall. Turning left down one short side hall she was surprised to see someone leaning against the wall opposite her locker. With a long sigh she pointedly turned her eyes away from the sad figure of a certain blue-eyed brunette.

"We'll see you over there," Oliver told her softly as he grabbed Joannie's elbow and forcibly pulled her down the hall toward the exit.

"But I want to hear…" the other blonde whined, eliciting a short snort of amusement from Lilly and a smack on the back of the head from Oliver.

Miley didn't say a word until Lilly had stopped in front of her locker and started working the combination lock.

"Can we please talk, Lilly?" Miley asked in a soft, downtrodden voice.

"What about? What could we possibly have to talk about _Hannah_?" Lilly asked with a frustrated sigh as she grabbed her jacket, slammed the locker door, and then turned away to continue her escape from the nearly deserted school. All she wanted was to get in her truck and get away. She'd promised her friends to meet them, otherwise she'd have been just as happy to head to work so that she could sweat off some of these emotions that kept toying with her heart.

Miley was everything she wanted and nothing she could ever have. She had thought that she'd eventually be able to forgive the girl after Friday night, but seeing her now all she could think of was that the Miley Stewart she had fallen in love with was gone and all that was left was Hannah Montana.

"You just can't seem to grasp that I want nothing to do with some trumped up superstar," she snapped at the girl following behind her.

"Lilly…no…Lils, please. I don't want you to walk away from me like you did in second grade."

Lilly stopped, her forward momentum and the majority of her weight placed heavily upon her right foot which had suddenly become rooted to the spot. She wanted to keep walking, she desperately wanted to get away, but her muscles weren't listening to her head. Some other organ had taken control.

Given that Miley had yet to remember even a single moment of their past history together it was too much of a longshot that she'd suddenly remember now. But her heart refused to throw away that one possible opportunity even if the odds were against her.

"I see your father has been telling you stories again," she said calmly, not turning her head to look at the beautiful girl standing behind her. Even without eyes she could see the brunette wringing her hands in trepidation.

"You know that's not true, Lils. No one was there but the two of us," Lilly heard that soft, heartbreaking voice say as the years seemed to slip away.

It had been a stupid argument. The two girls had been in Miley's room talking about their families. Lilly's mom and dad had been fighting at the time. It was just before they filed for divorce. The young blonde had told Miley all about her parent's failing marriage and the blue-eyed girl had said something derogatory about Lilly's father. Right now she couldn't even remember exactly what words had been spoken, all she remembered was thinking that only she had the right to say something like that. Not even her best friend could get away with reproaching her father. She'd blown up and stormed out of her friend's room even as Miley followed her, crying out her apologies. They'd eventually gotten over the spat, but it had been a hard two weeks of pain and solitude for both girls.

"You could have told your father about it back then and he just retold you the story. No memory involved." Lilly had to say it. She had to punch those holes in Miley's honesty no matter how much she wished it were otherwise.

"No, I didn't speak to my father," Miley said softly and Lilly could actually hear the tears in her voice. "I spent some time in Mamaw's hayloft."

A visible tremble hit the school's star pitcher - starting in her toes and rushing all the way through her body and out through her fingertips causing her precarious balance on her right foot to give way. Lilly was just barely able to catch herself and keep from falling into the lockers. She shook her head in negation as she got her feet back beneath her. No. It wasn't possible!

"M-Mamaw's…h-hayloft?" Lilly stammered as she slowly turned around.

Miley's eyes had dropped to the hands that she was, indeed, wringing viciously against her waist. "Mamaw came by the house Saturday morning," she sniffed. "She had talked to my dad earlier and she practically dragged me out to her place and forced me to go sit in the loft." A faraway look came into those blue eyes. "I didn't know why, but I was terrified of going up there. I didn't understand…but I've never been able to say no to that woman."

A small smile formed on Lilly's lips at the thought of anyone trying to say no to Mamaw. It just didn't happen. That woman was a force of nature.

"I was just sitting there, cross-legged, taking in the warm sun and the smell of the hay. I'd decided to close my eyes and I laid back in the straw," Miley whimpered softly. "When I opened them…you were there; or, at least, the ghost of a ten year old you. You didn't say anything, just leaned down toward me until…until my head exploded with pain and I passed out."

Lilly wanted to take those shaking shoulders in her arms and draw the beautiful, desperate girl into her embrace, but she forced herself to simply lean against the lockers as Miley continued to speak.

"When I woke up, you were gone and I found that I'd thrown up all over myself," she laughed sadly. "Now I know why Mamaw told me to take the bottle of water with me. I rinsed my mouth out and spat out the window…" her blue eyes took on a shine and a sparkle that Lilly hadn't seen in years. "I don't know how it happened, but all of a sudden I couldn't stop smiling. Before I knew it one memory after another came crashing through."

A smile that might have been a small percentage of the one she was talking about lit Miley's features. "Do you remember when we were in first grade and my mom and I came over to your mom's shop to get our hair styled? I got mine done first, just a bit of a trim," she said as she played with the tips of her hair, "so that we could play upstairs while your mom did my mom's hair. You were still living in the apartment above the shop back then. We used your mom's curling iron to try to curl my hair, but we forgot to turn it on so it didn't do much of anything."

"I didn't forget to turn it on," Lilly whispered softly. "I knew it had to be plugged in to work. My mom's a hairdresser so of course I knew, but I figured that I'd probably burn you if I actually turned it on. Besides, that way I could play with your hair longer," she smiled sheepishly.

"And the first time you came over to ride with me on Blue Jeans just after my dad bought him? Now I know why he took to you so well that day. He remembered you even after all those years."

"Sorry…" Lilly gulped, wondering how she could tell her that she'd lied by omission, but Miley saved her.

"No, it's not your fault," Miley replied quickly with a shake of her head that set her brown curls floating around her face like a curtain. "And the time, back in kindergarten when I was getting bullied by some boy on the playground?"

"Jake Ryan," Lilly offered softly.

"You came over and protected me by pushing the boy down in the dirt. I think…I think that's the day I first started to fall in love with you."

All Lilly could do was hold her breath and pray.

"You were always there for me, Lilly, no matter what. We fought every so often, but we just couldn't stay away from each other. I can't tell you how good it made me feel knowing that I could always count on you. You were my very best friend…and more. There are so many memories that I have now. But the first one that came to me, the one that started the whole thing, was one from that very hayloft at Mamaw's place when we were ten." She sucked in a sudden, quiet sob. "It-it was…it was _that_ day," Miley sniffed again.

"I remember the two of us, up in that loft. We'd been playing all day long. Mama had gone upstairs to take a nap to try to get rid of a headache shortly after you arrived so we played outside for hours. It was the best day."

Lilly could hear Miley's desperate attempt to talk over the sobs that were trying to escape like the tears that were tracing down her cheek. She wanted to just take the girl in her arms and hold her, but she knew that Miley needed this. She needed to get it out.

"We were all sweaty from running around in the cornfield and decided to cool off in the hayloft. You climbed up the ladder ahead of me and threw a handful of hay down on top me as I followed you up those last steps. I said I'd get you for that and as soon as I got up the ladder I rushed you and tackled you into the hay. You were shrieking with laughter, and then you flipped me over so that you were on top. Your green eyes were bright and shining and your blonde hair flowing over your shoulders with bits of hay stuck in it. Your smile was just so…

"Lilly, you were the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen in my life," Miley wept, covering her face with her hands.

Again Lilly wanted to take her in her arms, but instead dropped her backpack and jacket and hugged her own waist to keep her hands to herself.

"I just couldn't stop myself. I loved you so much. I _told_ you I loved you. Then I…I leaned up and…and I kissed you!" Miley sobbed.

"And I kissed you back," Lilly whispered, her own emotions from that time sweeping over her as real and as strong as if they'd happened just minutes before rather than seven years ago. "But I never got the chance to tell you I loved you, too."

"We heard the sirens from the ambulance and I pushed you away and just started running, leaving you behind," Miley nodded, crying softly. "I know now it was stupid, but I was so sure that Mama had died because I'd fallen in love with another girl…and that I'd kissed her. That was why Mama died. It was all my fault."

The tears falling from those blue eyes were a never ending stream and Lilly finally gave up and took the love of her life in her arms as Miley wept, crushing her in a hug so tight it left her breathless.

"I just _knew_ Mama had died because I'd fallen in love with you, Lils," Miley wept. "I couldn't accept that kind of responsibility. If I'd never loved you…if I'd never met you…if I hadn't kissed you…I was so sure that Mama would still be alive if none of that had happened. So my mind did the only thing it could do…it it took all my memories of you and locked them away! It was as if you'd never been in my life!"

"I sat on Mamaw's porch for three days," Lilly wept. "All I wanted was to see you. To talk to you. To comfort you. Mamaw kept me warm and fed me, but I refused to leave. Even my mom tried to get me to come home and I threw a fit until Momma let me stay under Mamaw's care. But three days of you refusing to see me I finally got the message," she sobbed. "Despite the kiss, despite what you told me that day, you didn't want me anymore," Lilly cried her own tears, their combined sobs echoing down the otherwise silent corridors. "I couldn't even go to the funeral!"

"I'm sorry," Miley cried into Lilly's shoulder. "I am so sorry, Lils."

The two girls held onto each other, crying their eyes out, for a few more minutes before they started getting their emotions back under control.

"Can I say it again, now?" Miley asked softly, her words barely audible.

"You can say whatever you want," Lilly replied with a gentle smile.

"Then I'll repeat what I said seven years ago," Miley grinned. "Lillian Truscott…I love you. I always have and I always will. Will you…will you be my girlfriend?"

_Epilogue_

_Friday, August 20, 2010_

"So, Hannah, what brings you back to the show," Jay Leno asked with his patented smirking smile, although a lot of confusion was showing as well in that long-jawed expression. "I have to admit, this is the first time I've ever had the same guest on the show twice in one week."

Jay's confusion was completely justified since he'd only heard about Hannah's surprise appearance right after he finished his monologue and they'd gone to commercial break. His normal Friday schedule would have been to go directly into the Headlines shtick as soon as he came out of the break, but his Executive Producer, Debbie Vickers, had informed him over the intercom that he had a surprise guest and that the Headlines portion of the show, unless something happened over the weekend, would be shifted to Monday night.

"What do you mean a surprise guest, Deb?" he'd demanded. "This isn't the way we do things."

"Jay," Debbie had tried to calmly talk to him over the intercom since not only all of the cameramen and grips could hear them, but the entire audience as well, "look over to your left."

When he had done so he'd seen a young blonde girl with a sheepish smile waving at him.

"Holy sh…"

"Jay! Watch your language. You're miked," his Executive Producer had admonished him before he created an incident that would hit the morning tabloids.

"What the…heck…is she doing here? She was just here on Tuesday. Why should I…"

"I know Jay, but…Jay…look in her eyes and tell me that you don't want her on the show Right. Now!"

Jay Leno had first appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1977 when the old host had given him his very first real television break as a standup comedian. He became more of a fixture on the show in 1987 when he started guest hosting whenever Johnny took time off. He took over the show as its new, official host in 1992. In his over twenty-five year history of hosting the show, he'd never once gotten the feeling that he had now.

From the look in the teen's eyes, whatever Hannah had to say would be huge!

"All right Deb. I get it. But if we end up having to bump Kathie Lee, _you_ get to be the one to tell her! That woman scares the bejeezus out of me. I don't know how Regis ever handled her."

"What makes you think he did?" Debbie laughed.

"Well, you kinda still haven't," Hannah replied somewhat embarrassedly in answer to Jay's original question. "You see, I'm not the same person I was on Tuesday."

"Oh, sure you're not," Jay said quickly while rolling his eyes and mumbling, "cuckoo," under his breath.

"Maybe it'd be easier this way," the young girl grinned nervously as she stood to move to the center of the stage where her backup band awaited her.

"Debbie," Jay whispered into his lapel mike.

"Just wait," Debbie replied into his earpiece.

Hannah gripped the microphone stand tightly.

"I wrote this song just a little while ago," she told the audience. "It's about an eleven year old girl that wanted to be a famous rock star. But she also wanted to be able to enjoy a normal childhood as well. So she created a character, a persona if you will, that she could wear when she performed and take off when she just wanted to be herself." The audience sat silently, listening intently to every word she said.

"It was great for a little while, but that little girl's seventeen now, and she's gonna be starting college in just a few days. Life's been really great for her for the past eight years," Hannah turned to look over into the wings and gave the girl standing there a wide grin. "But it's getting a bit more complicated these days, and she just doesn't want to hide anymore." She turned to look first at an absolutely stunned Jay Leno, and then back out at the audience.

"As you can probably guess by now, the character that little girl created goes by the name of Hannah Montana," she smiled softly as she slowly reached up to gently take hold of her hair.

-oo-

"She's really gonna do it," Lilly whispered in awe.

"Yup, Lils, she's really gonna do it," Robbie Ray smiled as the two of them watched his daughter from the wings.

"And the name of that little girl," Hannah said as she pulled off her wig and shook out her long, wavy brown hair, "is Miley Stewart."

As soon as the long blonde wig came off, so did Robbie's mustache.

Lilly had only been wearing the short, pink haired wig she'd gotten as a gag gift from her mother on her seventeenth birthday for a little over a year, but she'd gotten kind of attached to the character of Lola Luftnagle. Lola and Hannah had had some very fun times doing things that Miley and Lilly would never have considered.

But tonight, Miley was doing something that Hannah would have never considered. Lily pulled the pink wig slowly off her blonde hair, feeling almost as nostalgic as Miley did, even if not anywhere near as frightened of the changes that would be coming. There were some she was actually looking forward to.

"Anyway," Miley grinned and shook the wig in her hand, "it's been a long time since I've sung without my friend here, so…I hope you like it."

_I always knew this day would come_

_We'd be standing one by one_

_With our future in our hands_

_So many dreams so many plans_

_I always knew after all these years_

_There'd be laughter there'd be tears_

_But never thought that I'd walk away_

_With so much joy but so much pain_

_And it's so hard to say goodbye_

They'd talked a lot about which song she was going to sing after _the great reveal_. Lilly had opted for "Wherever I Go" while Robbie and Jackson had voted for either "The Other Side of Me" or her theme song, "Best of Both Worlds" now that their true meaning would become clear. Miley had smiled at all of them but kept silent about what her final choice was going to be.

Lilly smiled, even as a slow trickle of tears fell. Leave it to Miley to choose the best song for the situation. "I'll Always Remember You" said so much about the brunette's relationship with her blonde pop star alter ego. But Miley also knew it was a song with special meaning to her girlfriend of a little more than a year.

Robbie reached over to take hold of Lilly's right hand, probably so that she wouldn't keep wringing the poor wig like a wet dishrag.

_Another chapter in the book can't go back but you can look_

_And there we are on every page_

_Memories I'll always save_

_Up ahead only open doors_

_Who knows what we're heading towards_

_I wish you love I wish you luck_

_For you the world just opens up_

_But it's so hard to say goodbye_

Miley looked over at her with a meaningful smile and patted her heart. It had become her little signal to Lilly to let her know that she was thinking about her and how much she loved her. Lilly mirrored the gesture back and Miley's smile grew even wider.

"I guess freshman orientation at UTK is going to be a little different after this," Robbie chuckled.

"Ya think!" Lilly laughed. "At least we'll be rooming together. Miley won't have to worry about some crazed fangirl sleeping next to her every night."

"Nah, just a sex crazed girlfriend," Robbie smirked. The remark earned him a swat to the arm. "Really, I feel for the other girls on your floor," he chuckled again. "I've heard you two out in the barn. I'm not sure which of you is louder, and I don't mean snoring."

"You're just jealous," Lilly grinned evilly. Miley's father just shrugged, knowing he had no way to argue that kind of logic. Yet.

_Yesterday's gone we gotta keep moving on_

_I'm so thankful for the moments so glad I got to know ya_

_The times that we had I'll keep like a photograph_

_And hold you in my heart forever_

_I'll always remember you_

"So what's next after this?" Jay asked long after Miley had returned to her seat next to his desk. Kathie Lee Gifford, as well Chris Tucker, ended up being bumped to some future show as the host and his surprise guest spent the next half hour talking about Miley's real life in Crowley Corners and Malibu and what it was like to juggle a relatively normal home life with that of a superstar.

"Actually, and not to put in a plug for another show, but from here we're going over to the Warner Brothers studio to do Ellen's show," Miley smiled widely, glancing over into the wings and winking at her girlfriend.

Lilly didn't know what song Miley would be singing on The Ellen DeGeneres show either. All her girlfriend would tell her was that it was a new song she'd written called "When I Look At You." The way she'd looked at Lilly when she'd told her the title had sent a shiver of yearning down the blonde's spine.

"Don't tell me you'll be revealing something else? I don't know if our hearts can handle anything more," Jay moaned.

"You'll just have to watch and see, Jay," Miley Stewart, formerly Hannah Montana, smiled happily.

* * *

A/N: My humble thanks to everyone that read and commented, followed, and faved this story. I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to leave me a message and let me know what you thought. I love hearing from you.

Thanks again and take care of yourselves,

CX


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